


Second Chance

by Tsubasa_Hane



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Multi, Time Travel, episode rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-08 04:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16422242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsubasa_Hane/pseuds/Tsubasa_Hane
Summary: In the middle of a battle with Warp, Starfire ends up four years into the future. There, she must face the consequences of her lengthy absence...as well as the consequences of things even she may not be able to change. Rewrite of HOW LONG IS FOREVER?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted Nov 27, 2009 on FanFiction.net. It has been copied and pasted without edits, minus a few formatting alternations to accommodate AO3.
> 
> My fourth attempt at an Episode Rewrite, Second Chance is still the one I actually return to and reread myself. Little more than the outline of the original episode plot remains, incorporating an entirely "New" Teen Titans team in lieu of the completely desolate future Starfire encountered. I ended up falling in love with the world I created and wrote a side-story (also posted) focusing on the future Titans' backstory and a more in-depth look at the relationship of Tim Drake and Rose Wilson.
> 
> Random? To some, perhaps...but let's just say I really dug deep into comics lore for this one.

The villain known only as Warp gave a victorious smirk as he stood over the five fallen teenagers. Superheroes or not, they were simply one hundred years too far behind both his intelligence and technology. Destiny itself had fortold of their defeat—of  _his_  victory _._

And less than a few steps away sat his prize: The Clock of Eternity.

 _Valuable in the present, priceless in the future._ Ignoring the defeated Titans, he stared straight ahead as he kept his eye directly on the golden timepeice. His suit pulsated with power as he reached right through the glass that contained the timekeeping artifact, arm shielded by a wave of electromagnetic time particles.

Once the Clock was safely in his grasp, he then took a step back and placed two fingers over the pendant on his chest. A small portal appeared, beckoning the man back to his own time.

"Ta-Ta, Titans," he called over his shoulder with a mocking wave. "I've enjoyed our  _time_  together, but I've got a bright _future_  ahead of me!"

No sooner did he have one foot beyond the portal, however, when a ferocious battle cry erupted from behind; he barely had time to react before the red-haired alien—Starfire, they called her—dove straight into his chest. The force of the impact sent them both spirling uncontrolably into the time stream.

Almost immediately after, the portal closed behind them.

In the back of her mind, Starfire knew she should have been more afraid then. She had acted in a completely reckless manner in her persuit of the villain, following him into a realm even he could not fully control. Still, she put all these thoughts aside as she concentrated on taking back what had been wrongfully strolen.

Warp was another story; from the very moment they had fallen through the portal, he began shouting colorful obscenities regarding both her intelligence and heritage. He screamed that her presence would do more damage than even he, and how she was powerless to stop what had already been Destined. Starfire ignored every last word, wrestlig back and forth with him for several moments as they each tried to wretch it from the other's hold.

Suddenly, her fingers slipped and pressed against his large pendant. The duo were enveloped in a blinding light, and shooting pain ripped through the Tameranian's body. She screamed, letting go of the Clock as she recoiled back.

The last thing she recalled before loosing consciousness was a sudden gust of chilling air, followed by the sensation of her back slamming into a rough slab of cement.

*** * ***

_"¿Quién piensas que es?"_

_"No sé. Pero esta muy bonita ¿no?"_

_"No hay tiempo para eso, Más. ¿Qué debemos hacer?"_

_"M... Pienso que ha sido lastimada."_

A pair of male voices loomed over her, trading off hushed whispers in a language that was foreign to her. They didn't sound unfriendly—cautious, perhaps, but more out of concern than ill intent.

" _Llama a Señorita Donna. Debemos llevarla a_  Titan's Tower."

Her ears perked as she recognized the name of her Earth home. Though she longed to sit up and speak with her mysterious rescuers, it was all she could manage to stiffen a low moan and flop her head to one side: "Titans...Tower..."

_"¿Oíste eso?"_

_"¡Conoce la torre!"_

"We are here to help," the first voice spoke much louder than before, in heavily-accented English. She sensed him kneel down at her side. "Can you move at all?"

Her fingertips twitched, but little else.

"Do not be alarmed," the second chimed in, equally accented, as he took his place on her other side. A pair of learn arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders. "We will take you to Titans Tower, yes?"

"I...thank...you," she managed, just before passing out once more.

* * *

The warmth of what could only have been natural starlight beamed down upon her skin. She inhaled deeply, pressing herself against the soft pillow as she felt her strength returning; though they stung at her still-senstive retina, the strength of the rays felt wonderful.

When at last her eyes recovered enough to blink open, she found herself on a small cot in what appeared to be the resident medical ward. The room smelled fresh and clean, hints of lemon stringing her nose, and the walls were decked out in beautiful patterns of soft blues and greens. Even the equipment looked pristine and relatively un-threatening as it glistened a sparkling steel.

"Hey, you're awake!" A perky female voice came from her left. "Guess it worked after all!"

She turned to see a young girl roughly her age standing in the doorway. Her dark, glossy hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, revealing a healthy tan and thick lashes outlining prussian blue eyes. The clothing she wore consiststed of bold reds and blues—a tight-fitting yet still modest leotard with matching knee-high boots—and gave a distinct 'superheroine' impression.

When Starfire stared silently for too long, however, the girl's smile twisted into a small frown. "You...do understand English, don't you?"

"Oh!" She sat up apologetically, having been lost in her thoughts. "Forgive me. Yes, I have knowledge of your language."

"That's a relief." The girl smiled again, showing off impossibly white teeth. "It's bad enough trying to make sense of the twin's Spanglish, let alone having to speak with someone who doesn't know  _any_  English at all." At this, she gave a smirk that told it was meant to be a joke.

Starfire gave a smile similar to those she would often wear after one of Beast Boy's 'puns' before asking, "Please, what did you mean just now when you said 'it worked'?"

The girl motioned to the room's sole, large window. "Sunlight. You were out for nearly half a day before Kon suggested exposing you to the rays to rejuvenate." Placing a finger to her chin, she looked extremely amused about something. "I'll have to admit, I had no idea Tameranians were like Kryptonians in that sense."

"You know of my people?" Starfire's eyebrows rose in pleasant surprise. "Then, there have been other Tameranians aside from myself who have ventured to this planet?"

"Oh, sure." The girl shrugged. "I mean, I've never met one myself in person until now, but it's not like aliens are all that uncommon around here these days."

A thought occurred to her: "Then, this...'Kon'...person..."

"Well, that's what I call him, anyways. And yes, he's an alien too...well, mostly," she added, pausing to stare upward in thought before shrugging. "Eh, it's a long story. He prefers that the others call him by his Earth name, Conner, though you could just call him Superboy if you're more comfortable with that."

"I have heard of the Man of Super, but never the Boy." Starfire tilted her head to the side as she thought back. "Most interesting. Are they of any relation?"

"You could say that," the girl smirked, as if she found the question rather humorous. Without missing a beat, she grabbed a nearby chair and placed herself down into a graceful seated position. "I'm Donna, by the way. Also known to the civilian world as Wonder Girl, and second-in-command to the Boy himself."

Again, Starfire recognized a part of the name—having previously met Wonder Woman—and realized that the girl before her did bear a similar resemblance. It was not just the hair and color scheme, either; Donna posessed the same aura of confidence and almost regal attitude as her older counterpart.

"My friends on Earth know me as Starfire," she introduced herself with a wide smile, deciding that she liked this Girl of Wonder. It had been a while since she met another female with such enthusiasm for conversation.

"Pleased to meet you, Starfire." Donna gave a half-hearted salute jokingly. Resting her arms across her knees, she leaned forward. "Any chance you remember what happened to you, by the way? I heard bits and pieces from the twins about you falling from the sky and some weird light show, but it's hard to get a coherent sentence out of either of them when they get that excited."

Starfire thought back to the two male voices she had heard, realizing that they must have been the 'twins' Wonder Girl kept referring to. Inwardly, she sighed, hoping she would get a chance to thank them before she left.

Her expression then darkened as she suddenly remembered the reason she had needed their help in the first place: "Warp."

"...come again?"

"I was doing battle with the villain who called himself Warp." She explained, turning back to face Donna. "He claimed to have traveled from the future in order to steal some sort of valuable Clock. There was a...portal of some kind. Just as he attempted to escape, I followed him through this portal...and that is the last thing I can recall."

"Interesting." Donna folded her arms and sat back, blowing an invisible strand of hair. "I've never heard of any Warp guy before. Where are you from, by the way? I mean, your Earth home."

"I have resided for the last year in the City of Jump with my fellow Titans," Starfire explained with more than a hint of pride. "Though I was not aware there is another Titans Tower aside from ours. Please, in what town are we?"

Donna's face twisted into a look of confusion. "Umm...this  _is_  Jump City."

"Most Glorious!" Starfire clasped her hands together, oblivious to the odd looks her new friend was giving her. "We live in such close proximity to one another. Our home is located on a small island in the center of water. Are you familiar with it?"

Donna took even longer to answer this time, and when she finally did, her words were slow and carefully chosen. "I am. In fact, you're...in it right now."

It was Starfire's turn to look confused. "But...that cannot be." Her eyes darted around the room—warm, but unfamiliar. "This does not look like our medical ward, and I am certain Robin would have informed me if there were other—"

"You know Robin?" Donna interupted suddenly, eyebrows raised.

"Oh, yes!" Starfire exclaimed, momentarily distracted from the situation at hand. "He is my best friend and the leader of our team."

"The Teen Titans, am I correct?"

"You are. However..." Starfire's voice trailed off as her mind resumed processing information. "You said that your Boy of Super is team leader."

"He is. Only for the last couple of years, though. And even then, I've only been here for roughly a year and a half myself."

Starfire's brows furrowed together. "You must be mistaken. Titans Tower was only constructed just under one Earth revolution ago. How could you have been there—no,  _here_  for so long?"

"Star—"

"And why do you insist that the leader is someone other than Robin?" She proceeded to ignore Donna's quiet pleas for her to listen, not liking the knowing look the girl had on her face. A theory of her own was beginning to form. One she did not like. "Is he not here?"

"Oh, he's here alright. Out in the main living room with the oth—"

"I must speak with him at once!" The Tameranian girl exclaimed, lifting herself off of the medical ward cot and heading straight for the exit. Donna's cries of protest fell on deaf ears as she flew out of the room, on the way passing by an extremely muscular boy wearing jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Hey!" He squeaked, instinctively ducking. Starfire remained in earshot just long enough to hear him add, "Donna, what the heck's going on?"

She did not have time to explain herself, however, as her focus remained on finding the main living room. Navigating the numerous hallways was almost too easy, a fact that did not help to ease her growing concerns. When she eventually came upon the enteranceway, she lowered her feet to the ground and walked the last remaining steps into the room.

The sight that greeted her caused the Tameranian to gasp audibly.

Sitting on the couch, where she would normally have found Beast Boy and Cyborg, were two young boys who were neither green nor part-robot. They looked around twelve or thirteen years old, with matching outfits of white and red. A pair of yellow tinted goggles shielded their eyes, and identical locks of red hair stuck out from beneath their hoods. The only way she could differentiate between them were the different symbols on their chests: a 'plus' sign on one, and a 'minus' on the other.

They shouted at one another in the same foreign language Starfire had heard of her rescuers, in a manner not unlike that of her missing teammates.

" _Victoria_!" The 'minus' boy exclaimed suddenly, jumping up from his seat with both fists pumped in the air. It was then he finally noticed Starfire standing in the doorway, watching. "Ah!  _Hola, señoita._  You are feeling much better now, I see."

The second twin also stood and leaned atop his brother's head for a better view, smiling and waving as if her presence was a perfectly normal occurance. Unable to resist, Starfire found herself sending him a half-hearted wave in return.

"Glad to see you're up, Miss." A deep baritone came from the kitchen area. "We were starting to worry about you."

She turned to see a slightly older boy dressed in blues, black and yellows: a blue trenchcoat worn over a black leotard with an odd yellow lightning-shaped symbol across his chest. He also had on a white mask that contrasted rather nicely with his dark skintone. Blue shades rested atop a mop of black hair styled in a way she had never seen before. As the boy strolled back into the main room, he took a huge bite out of what Starfire vaguely remembered being called a "hero" sandwich.

He, too, did not seem particularly alarmed at her sudden appearance.

Only two others resided in the room, seated so that they faced one another in a corner of an extremely large window. The girl looked extremely gaunt and withdrawn, with shockingly white hair and a black patch over her left eye. A large cloak shielded the rest of her body from view. She stared out the window blankly, head resting lazily against the reflective surface, either completely oblivious to or apathetic to the Tameranian's presence.

But it was the last person who caught Starfire's eye. In the sea of strange faces and costumes, his familiar ensemble stood out in welcoming reds, greens, blacks, and yellows. His back was still turned, however, as he seemed to be talking with—or, rather,  _to_ the white-haired female.

"Robin!" She called to him.

Upon hearing his name, the boy stood up and turned around.

Starfire took to the air and flew over to him, relief washing over her.

...until she landed and got a better look.

The hair and skin tone were right. The costume was right. The opaque mask covering his eyes was right. But the person beneath it was not. Robin had been thin and lean, yes, but nowhere near as small and young-looking as the boy standing before her now; he couldn't have been older than fourteen, two years Robin's junior. Most importantly, his face was all wrong.  _He_  was all wrong.

"You are not Robin!" She gasped, stepping back in shock. "Why do you wear his costume?"

Not-Robin's eyes widened as he got a good look at her. "S-Starfire?"

She did not seem to hear him. "This...this is all wrong! Who are all these people, and why are they in Titan's Tower?" More to herself than anything, Starfire retreated further as she continued to take in her surroundings. Tears were beginning to pool in the corners of her eyes. "What is happening?"

"Starfire, listen—" he began, and tried to approach. He stopped when she visibly flinched away from him.

"Do not come any closer!"

"Wait!" He tried again, but she continued to ignore him. Turning away, she moved to take the air again, when: " _Kori, wait_!"

Starfire froze. There had only ever been one person—on either Earth or Tameran—with whom she had shared that particular moniker. Her breath catching in her throat, she blinked the water from her eyes and slowly turned back around to face the Not-Robin.

"How do you know of that name?" she asked him softly.

"Robin told me. The Robin you knew."

"The Robin I...knew?" she repeated slowly, not liking the past tense of his statement.

The other three boys in the room were watching them intently now, eyes wide. The twins looked scared to even breath wrong at that point, though the older boy was brave enough to risk taking another bite of his sandwich as he eyes remained focused on the display before him. The girl remained oblivious to all around her.

"You see, he doesn't go by that name anymore." 'Robin' braved another step forward, thankful when Starfire remained still. "He told me about you, Kori, not long after you disappeared that day during a battle with some villain named Warp. Shortly before he passed down the mantle of Robin to me...just under four years ago."

Though she didn't need oxygen to live, Starfire felt in that moment like the breath had been stolen from her very lips. Her chest tightened as her heart pounded against it, so loud she wondered if the entire room could hear it. She felt her hands start to shake as uncontrolable waves of disbelief washed over her. She swallowed audibly.

Four years? She had disappeared  _four years ago_?

"Hold it!"

A fierce cry broke through the silence just then, startling nearly everyone in the room. The dark-skinned boy's sandwich was lost as the twins gave simultaneous shouts of surprise, throwing their hands up in the air as they fell backwards off the couch. The discheveled trio turned to see their leader standing in the doorway, glaring heatedly at the Tameranian girl. He looked to be in some sort of battle-ready pose, eyes narrowing further when she said nothing back.

"Okay, I want to know what is going on right now." He huffed. "Why did you take off like that, and where—"

"Oh, cool it, Kon." Donna appeared from behind him, casually strolling up to the boy. As she passed, she smacked him upside the head just hard enough to visibly jar him. "Now, put those away before you hurt something." She added, motinoing to his clenched fists.

While the self-proclaimed Boy of Steel struggled (and failed) to maintain his masculine composure, Donna calmly strolled over to where Starfire stood, still recovering from shock. She took the girl's hand gently into her own and offered as comforting of a smile as she could.

"Come sit down, Starfire." she spoke, and motioned to the couch where the twins still sat; with one simple wave of the hand, from her, they vacated the area instantly. "I have a feeling we have a lot of explaining to do.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a relatively slow day at the Watchtower as Wally West and his girlfriend, coincidentally a fellow League member, sat for their routine shift.

The twenty-one year old speedster had changed significantly in recent years, graduating from the more youthful moniker of Kid flash to the (somewhat) more respected role of  _the_ Flash. His signature color scheme of yellow and red remained, though it was the latter that now dominated his aerodynamic latex suit. He had noticeably grown as well, and while his boyhood physique had always been impressive, it now boasted the well-toned muscles of a fit young man.

What he continued to lack in maturity (and, some would argue, taste in humor), however, was more than made up for in years of experience gained both on and off the battlefield. Gone were the days of the hyperactive teenager who zipped from city to city as little more than an "honorary" member of any given team; he had a home, a reputation as one of the Justice League's Original Seven, and even his own place at the head table.

He even joked—more than once—about engraving his own visage onto the back of his chair.

The striking beauty at his side, too, had undergone a growth of her own since their first meeting, four years prior. While she managed to maintain her small, lithe frame through rigorous training and exorcise, the touch of womanhood had added subtle curves to her developing figure. The simpler, more mature black and purple body suit she now wore further accented these changes. Likewise, the gravity-defying pigtails that once defined her image had been abandoned in favor of allowing her thick hair to simply cascade down to the small of her back. Dark mascara and shadow accented the exotic features of her eyes, though her face was otherwise devoid of makeup.

Many continued to suggest a change of name to reflect the changes in her life, but she stubbornly chose to keep her childhood title. Still, as she came to take on the responsibilities of a protector, her more juvenile ways slowly diminished with each passing day. No longer selfish or even self-pitying, she carried herself with an aura of confidence that reflected the intensity of her ever-growing powers.

For all the differences between them, however, there was one thing that would never change: Wally would always be a shameless flirt, and go out of his way to prove it to her (...no matter how long it had been since she'd already said "yes").

"Honestly!" She rolled her eyes at yet another of his lame pick-up lines, masterfully hiding a smile at the same time. Making sure to avoid any direct eye contact, less she give in to that irresistible smirk of his, she pretended to be fascinated with the act of filing her nails. "Sometimes I wonder how you, of all people, managed to convince me to switch sides."

"I dunno. Maybe it's 'cause you have a thing for smooth-talking redheads?" Wally quipped, not in the least put off by her sarcasm. Often, he found it a major turn-on.

"Hmm, good point." She tapped the nail file against her chin, as if deep in thought. "Speaking of...you haven't seen Roy around here lately, by any chance?"

"Ha-ha. Funny."

Before the couple could exchange any more witty banter, however, the intercom lights on her side of the panel started to blink, signaling an incoming message. She leaned forward, entering the standard security persuades with one hand to ensure proper channel isolation and encryptions were in place. The entire sequence took less than half a second, at which time, she activated the monitor.

To her surprise, Superboy's image appeared. "Hey, Jinx."

"Hey, yourself." The former villainess gave a half-hearted wave, subconsciously flinching back into her chair. Even though she had never personally fought the young Clone of Steel, she also had never felt entirely comfortable around anyone who fell under the category of  _Titan_. "What's up?"

"We have a bit of a...situation down here. Are Batman, Wonder Woman, or the Green Lantern around?"

Wally poked his head into view, not bothering to hide his curiosity. "Sorry, but no. All three are off on missions today. Why them, specifically?"

"Because, according to our records here, they're the only ones who've dealt with a villain like this before."

Flash and Jinx shared a look, and the latter immediately set to work searching the Watchtower database for any records of shared missions involving the trio in question. It was a testament as to how much of Wally's interest had been piqued that he remained absolutely silent as the pink-haired beauty sorted through dozens upon dozens of folders, narrowing her search further each time. As a result of her distraction-free work, she was done in half a minute.

A single entry stood out.

"No way..." Flash's eyes widened as he speed-read through the briefing over her shoulder. "Don't tell me it's the same guy?"

"I'm pretty sure it's not. But still, we've never encountered anything like this before. Any information we could get would be seriously helpful."

"I'll bet," Jinx murmured. Her delicate fingers danced across the keyboard at a speed that made her boyfriend proud. "I'm sending the files to you now. You should have them in less than three minutes."

Flash leaned back in his seat, arms folded. His brows were furrowed together in an unusually serious expression as he turned back to the young Titan and asked, "What exactly is going on down there?"

There was a brief pause.

"Do you remember that one Titan who went missing a few years ago?"

Flash nodded. He'd heard about it from Shayera, who'd heard it from Batman, who in turn had learned of the situation first-hand from his original sidekick. "Never met her myself, but Jinx fought against her a few times back in the day." He gave a quick glance towards his girlfriend; if she was affected in any way by his casual tone towards her less-than-honorable past, she didn't show it. "What about her?"

"Let's just say...we found out where she's been."

*** * ***

The current incarnation of Teen Titans, Starfire soon learned, had been nearly three and a half years in the making.

Ironically, it were the two youngest of the group who had been around the longest; Más y Menos, born Manuel and Miguel Rodriquez, arrived from Guatemala just a few months after Starfire's disappearance. Possessing the shared abilities of super-speed, their gift came at with a rather unique condition: physical contact needed to be maintained between the two brothers to activate it. Still, at the then-age of ten, they had assimilated fairly easily into the daily lives of the Tower. Even the language barrier proved to be a minor hurdle, as they worked diligently to master English in just a few short years.

"And we use the term 'master' loosely," Donna commented, though not without humor.

In an act that fully demonstrated their level of maturity and growth, the twins simultaneously stuck their tongues out at her.

Superboy had been next to join the team, meant to take on the position of leader following Robin's sudden and unexpected departure. As a being created from the combined DNA of Superman and arch-villain Lex Luthor, Conner Kent struggled for a long time with his identity—who he was, and what his extremely bizarre parentage made him. The fact that he was initially looked upon as "Dick Grayson's replacement" did little to help matters. Even now, he seemed to carry an aura of sadness with him whenever he went, as if feeling the constant need to prove himself.

"Believe it or not," Virgil commented once Conner had left for the communication room, "He's actually pretty good at his job whenever he takes that stick out of his—"

"Virgil Hawkins!" Donna hissed in disapproval, placing both hands on her hips. "What have I told you about that kind of language in front of the twins?"

"Oh, please. Everyone knows the first words of any language you learn are the swears."

Donna's eyes narrowed further; within seconds, Virgil was visibly squirming under her intense gaze.

He sighed. "Sorry, Princess..."

Donna Troy, affectionately dubbed 'Princess' by most of her teammates, had come to fill a void left by the near simultaneous departures of Beast Boy and Raven. Orphaned at a very young age, she had been taken in by the Amazonian tribe that Wonder Woman called home. There, the women trained her in the ways of their matriarchal warrior society, including expert fighting techniques and an extremely feministic view of the world. She was quick-tempered, highly-opinionated, and extremely loyal.

"Her skills," Robin stated simply, "Include flight, lightning-fast reflexes, hand-to-hand combat, and an impeccable ability to emasculate most any guy at will and Conner in particular."

Donna smirked to herself at this, lightly blowing on her nails and shining them on her top.

Not long after Donna's (begrudging) assimilation into Man's world, Robin had returned to the team...only then, it was Tim Drake wearing the mask. Younger and greener to the crime-fighting world than most of the others, it was only the legendary Dick Grayson himself vouching for the young boy that the Titans finally accepted him among their ranks.

Initially, there had been a great deal of unease as to whether a the new Robin had any intentions of reclaiming the role his predecessor had held within the original team. This led to an unspoken air of hostility between Tim and Conner for a long time to come, even though Tim never once said a word about taking over. If anything, he only ever wanted to be a team player. It was this simple misunderstanding, however, that kept him away from the Tower for long durations of time, working numerous solo missions before he felt his own team would be able to trust him.

Around that time, Cyborg—the last the the original Titans—finally made his departure.

"See, his  _papa_  offered him a job at the S.T.A.R. Labs," Miguel explained. "He said it was too good of an opportunity to not accept."

"We communicate sometimes," Manuel added, sharing a knowing smirk with his brother. "He has great taste in Gamestation games."

Static, who was next to arrive, was a rarity among his teenaged superhero peers in that he had lived his entire childhood without the burden of metahuman powers. It wasn't until an unfortunate accident involving the release of severely unstable chemicals—an incident he referred to as the Big Bang—that he and his former partner developed their crime-fighting abilities. In his case, the ability to generate and manipulate electricity at will.

Oddly enough, he was also one of the few to have a history with the Justice League themselves. The first instance had been more coincidental, having been summoned to the Watchtower as little more than a glorified battery recharger when their energy core died out. Somehow, he wound up aiding in the defeat of some villain by the name of Brainiac before it could take over the entire system. Not long after, he again assisted the Green Lantern known as John Stewart when his ring had been stolen by someone bent on destroying Stewart's life and reputation.

"Not bad for a rookie," Donna smirked.

Virgil stood up and took a mock bow. The twins gave him a round of thunderous applause, complete with Manuel whistling.

In spite of everything, Starfire had to cover her mouth to smother her giggles.

Just then, the room's sole remaining occupant chose to rise. Her legs wobbled for a moment, the muscles weak from lack of recent usage, before she steadied them enough to wander over to the kitchen area. They carried her as far as the entrance before she stopped, staring blankly ahead.

Donna was the first to notice, motioning at Tim with a subtle jerk of the head.

The boy was on his feet in an instant and quickly made his way to the white-haired girl's side, stepping into her direct line of vision He spoke in a voice too low for the others to hear and, when she answered in an equally low manner, smiled and grabbed her hand.

"Come on," they heard him say. "I'll show you how to make one."

Everyone else had gone strangely silent; with a few turns of the head, Starfire quickly realized that their attention was focused intently on the young couple. Curious as to what had them so captivated, she turned back to watch.

Tim opened the refrigerator door with his free hand and began pointing to a variety of shelves and containers. The girl moved only when he rattled off the name of something she was specifically looking for, emerging a few seconds later with a jar of mayonnaise, bag of lettuce, and what looked like half a tomato. She placed them on a cutting board near the kitchen sink.

Meanwhile, Tim was scanning through the freezer with a deep frown.

"Hey, Virgil!" he called over his shoulder. "Do you know if we have any more bacon left over from this morning?"

The boy in question thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, man. I think we're all out." To his credit, he looked genuinely sorry. "Lemme guess: Rose wants a BLT?"

"Yeah."

"We shall go!" Manuel abruptly stood up, saluting the group, then turned to his brother. " _¿Estás listos?_ "

" _Si!_ "

Clasping their hands together tightly, the twins sped off in a gust of wind and random flying sheets of loose-leaf paper. They returned approximately thirty seconds later just outside the kitchen, fresh package of bacon in hand.

"Awesome!" Tim grinned as he accepted the package. "Thanks a bunch, guys."

" _De nada_ ," they replied in perfect unison, before returning to their previous seats on the living room floor.

Starfire was left nearly speechless at the display, a nostalgic pain tugging at her heart as she watched Tim demonstrate to Rose the ways of the microwave. Never once did he raise his voice at her, not even when she accidently tried to cook the entire package in one go. He then motioned to the cupboard where they kept the kaiser rolls, nudging them closer to her when they proved just outside her reach. Patient and understanding, while still instructive. Rather than patronize her by just making the sandwich himself, he took the painstaking time to guide her every step of the way.

It reminded her of how  _her_  Robin had spent hours upon hours helping her learn the mysterious of everyday Earth customs and appliances.

But it was more than just that. The sheer level of not only teamwork, but of genuine closeness the Titans of this time seemed to share was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Few words seemed to be necessary for them to understand the needs of a fellow teammate, and even fewer to do what needed to be done. The synchronicity amongst themselves was so precise that even the most mundane of tasks was met with efficient cooperation.

Nothing like that ever occurred in her time. With the exception of herself and Robin, her teammates had never so much as referred to one another by their first names. Starfire wasn't even sure she knew most of their first names.

Virgil was the first to notice the single tear making its way down her cheek. "What's wrong, Starfire?"

"It is just..." Wiping at her eyes, she looked up to see Donna and the twins also looking at her in concern. "I am surprised at how...close you all seem to be. Do you not fight amongst yourself, or experience the...'typical roommate stuff'?" She tried to recall the exact phrase  _her_  Robin had spoken not too long ago.

...or had it really been all that long ago after all? She wasn't sure anymore...

Donna surprised her by letting out a chuckle.

"Oh, don't get us wrong. We used to bicker and get on each other's nerves all the time." Here, she glanced back over toward the kitchen. Her smile gradually faded as she watched Tim help Rose pile the steaming hot bacon on top of her sandwich. "It's just...hard to find a reason to argue after Rose came along. I guess you could say she's the one that brought us all together as a team."

"How so?" Starfire asked softly.

"Tragedy does that sort of thing to people," Virgil interjected. He, too, wore an uncharacteristically forlorn look on his face, eyes glazed over as they recalled something from an all-too-recent past. "Seeing what happened to her first-hand...well, it kinda put things into perspective. Before we knew it, we'd all banded together to help her get through things."

"Tim usually does most of the work, given their history together, but we try to help whenever we can," Donna added.

A heavy aura clouded the room, one that Starfire grew all too aware of. She glanced over the four Titans' faces—Donna, Virgil, Miguel, and Manuel—and felt a shiver trickle down her spine. Their eyes were lined with dark shadows, as if each had been through their own personal hell. She then looked back to where Tim was bringing Rose over to sit with the group. The girl seemed content to nibble on her sandwich he had helped her make, but hardly flinched when he reached up to brush away the stray hairs from her face. Like she was suddenly no longer aware of his existence.

"What happened to her?" Starfire finally brought herself to ask.

At first, no one said anything. Looks were shared between the new Titans, each wordlessly seeking assistance in the burden of answering. In the end, it was Tim who began the tale, eyes never straying from Rose's face as one hand still gently wove through her tangled tresses:

"Rose used to be a fierce villain known by the name of Ravager, working exclusively under her biological father's command. Stealing, destruction, you name it. She would have done anything to gain his love and trust." His voice began to crack at this last sentence. Clearing his throat, he quickly regained composure and continued. "But she also had a phenomenal gift that he coveted: a sort of Second Sight. She could see glimpses of a person's future. The only problem was that she couldn't fully control it."

Starfire felt her heart pounding in her chest as Tim's soft voice echoed off the walls of the large room. She was already beginning to dread the outcome of his story, given Rose's current state and her own prior knowledge of how far a villain would be willing to go to get what he coveted.

"Now, it turns out Romeo over here had been trying to convert her for quite some time." Virgil spoke up suddenly, motioning at Robin with his thumb. "Apparently, they'd been meeting in secret for months. The night... _it_...happened, he'd even gone as far as to give her a communicator."

"That communicator was the only reason we found her," Donna pointed out.

"Hey, I'm not saying it was a bad move on his part or anything." Virgil held up his hands in defense. "Merely stating the facts."

" _Anyhow_ ," Donna emphasized, turning back to a wide-eyed Starfire. "As soon as Robin got back to the Tower that night, we got a distress signal. The rest of us, of course, had no idea what was going on at the time, so we just followed Robin as he led us directly to the signal...and that's where we found her."

There was another pregnant pause.

If possible, Starfire felt the room grow colder.

"She was lying in a pool of her own blood," Tim finally stated. The hand not stroking Rose's hair was clenched tightly into a fist on his lap, to the point where his whole arm shook. "In some twisted attempt to control both her powers and her free will along with it, her own father drugged her to the point where her mind could no longer control itself. Her visions began to meld with reality until she could no longer distinguish between the two; she'd even gauged her own eye out to mirror a wound he had received a long time ago. She...could barely recognize me..." The painful memories washing over him anew, Tim closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the side of the girl's head.

Rose froze for only a moment before continuing to take another bite of sandwich, as if nothing had happened.

Starfire's hands flew to her mouth. She could feel her limbs trembling as she tried to visualize the scene in her mind. The pure terror of finding one that Robin so obviously cared deeply about must have been unimaginable. Regardless of whether she had been hero or villain, nobody deserved such a fate. Especially one so young. Hot tears stung at the corner of Starfire's eyes as she struggled to find the right words to express her remorse.

"How...horrible..." She finally managed, though they hardly seemed to do justice.

Donna moved to sit at Tim's other side, placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "When we arrived, all we saw was Tim cradling her in his arms, distraught. We just kind stood there at first, not knowing what to do...but then, Conner started giving out orders. Not forcefully. Just...telling us what to do. What we'd needed to hear."

"That was probably the first time we listened to him without question." Virgil nodded, leaning back in his seat. For the first time since the conversation had taken its dark turn, he managed a weak smile. "And we've been listening to him ever since."

As if on cue, Conner Kent chose that moment to reenter the room.

"I found out something particularly in...terest...ing..." his voice trailed off as he noticed the palpable tension in the air. With a look of concern, he turned to Donna in silent question.

The young Amazonian warrior, however, dismissed his concerns with a wave of the hand. "Well, don't keep up lowly Earthlings in suspense, Kon. What did the Justice League have to say?"

Her abrupt change in tone lighten the mood considerably; everyone—with the exception of Rose—sat up a little straighter as a very confused Superboy made his way over to the side control panel. Inputing a quick series of commands, he opened one of the drives and inserted a small compact disk. With one last raised eyebrow at the team, he shook his head and activated the system.

The large television screen before them flickered a few times, then settled on a series of complex algorithms and stock images.

"Apparently Warp is not the only guy to ever claim to posses time-traveling powers," As he spoke, the image of a man wearing an odd cerulean and white suit appeared. "About a year ago, some lunatic named Chronos took three of the Justice Leaguers for quite the ride. To the past  _and_  the future."

Donna's eyes went wide. "I remember Diana telling me about that! First, they ended up in some place straight out of an old Western film, and not long after, a futuristic Gotham City. According to Batman's accounts of the latter, she'd temporarily vanished not long after they met up with a few future Leaguers—" her eyes subconsciously flickered over to Virgil, though the boy did not seem to notice, "—thanks to Chronos seriously messing with the flow of time."

"And what became of this Chronos?" Starfire wanted to know.

Conner typed in a few more commands, and more text appeared. "It says here that he was trapped in an unending time loop, forced to relive the moments just before the whole mess began, keeping him from ever acting out his chaotic plans."

"Oh, great!" Virgil threw his arms into the air as he leaned further back into the large sofa, kicking his legs onto the coffee table. "So all we have to do is find a guy who could not only be any _where_ , but during any _time_ , figure out a way to trap him in a perpetually recurring time loop using his own powers, and manage to do all this without getting our very existences erased." Sarcasm leaked from every word. "And here I thought this was going to be a challenge."

"Nice attitude there, Virg." Tim spoke up. "From the way Starfire's story sounds, all this guy wants is some antique clock that isn't technically supposed to exist anyway, not mess with the very fabric of space and time."

"Doesn't mean he can't." Virgil quipped back.

"Does not mean he has not already," Manuel corrected, drawing everyone's attention. "He said he was to steal the Clock, yes? But it seems as if  _se_ _ñ_ _orita_  Starfire was not part of this plan."

"This is true," Miguel nodded in agreement. "He did not mean to bring her to this time, yet he did. How do we not know this has already begun to—how you say—disrupt our world?"

"They have a point, Conner." Donna stated, shooting Starfire an apologetic look. "No offense, of course."

Starfire nodded, but remained silent.

"But this could be a good thing." Robin continued. "Think about it: if all Warp wanted was to ensure the success of his future by stealing something he already knew was supposed to be stolen, wouldn't he also want to make sure that absolutely  _nothing_  happened that could hinder his profitable outcome?"

He was met with a room full of blank stares.

"...in other words," the boy sighed. "There's a good chance that he might want to find Starfire himself before returning to his own time. That means he might still be somewhere in the city looking for her."

"That's a pretty long shot, Tim." Conner stated. "I mean, how do we know that she wasn't meant to arrive here after all? For all we know, it could have been a part of his plan all along."

" _Aye-aye-aye, mi cabeza_!" Manuel spoke for himself and his twin as the pair grabbed their heads.

"I'm with them." Virgil added, wincing. "All this time-travel stuff is giving me a migraine."

"That's not all it'll give you if Tim's theory is wrong." Donna frowned, placing her hands on her hips for as she glared at the trio. "You could at least try to take this seriously."

"I am. I think this is all  _seriously_  messed up."

"Regardless," Conner interjected, and the argument abruptly ceased. "We should probably start searching the city for any signs of him, just in case. If what Tim says  _is_  true, he can't be too far away." The monitor switched to a detailed map of the City, with a location roughly three miles from the Tower blinking red. "Start with the location Starfire first landed in, here, and work your way in out."

"I'll take the South area," Donna raised a hand.

Miguel and Manuel stood up. "We shall go North."

"I got the East side," Virgil nodded.

"And I'll cover the West," Conner finished. "What about you, Tim?"

"Well, first, I need to drop Rose off at Arkham. It's been a few weeks since her last visit," he explained, then turned to Starfire. "After that, we should head to Blüdhaven."

"Why? What is there?" she asked.

Oddly enough, Tim grinned: "Backup."

* * *

Starfire shifted uncomfortably as her back pressed against the cold metal of Tim's motorcycle. It was not just the vehicle, however—(she shouldn't have been surprised that the Robin of this time chose a similar means of transportation)-but the place which it had brought them to.

The entire surrounding area of Arkham Asylum seemed to radiate hopelessness and abandonment. Darkness blanketed the skies, though the sun had barely begun to set, casting every last nook of the building in shadow. Many of the windows had bars over them, and not a single trace of plant life could be found. It was all stone and marble. Hard, cold, and unforgiving.

A gust of wind blew through the rusty gates just then, creating an ominous creaking sound. Despite her tolerance towards the biting cold, Starfire shivered.

Tim had offered for her to follow them up to the main entrance, but she had declined out of sheer respect for Rose's privacy. As it was, the young couple had only a few precious moments together before the large doors opened and a red-haired woman wearing a white coat greeted them. Words were exchanged, the woman having recognized Rose immediately. Tim placed a loving kiss on the girl's forehead before turning away, leaving her in the doctor's care.

He said very little when he returned to the parked motorcycle, and Starfire had the grace not to pry.

"You sure you don't want to wear a helmet?" He asked as he straddled the seat.

She shook her head, insisting she was fine without it, and climbed into position behind him. The thought of wrapping her arms around his waist felt more wrong than she cared to admit, but it could not be helped. Her eyes fell to a particular spot on the ground to one side as Tim revved up the engine, looking anywhere but at his back.

"Please do not take offense," she began as the motor roared to life, "but I have flown at far greater speeds than your vehicle is capable of traveling. Tell me again why I could not simply fly to this Haven of Blood?"

"Trust me, Starfire. When it comes to a place like Blüdhaven, you're gonna wanna stay as close as possible."

With that, he pushed back the kickstand with his foot and the pair drove off.

*** * ***

As desolate as Arkham had been, Starfire knew the instant they crossed the border of Blüdhaven that Tim had been right about her staying close.

Rats scuttled through the litter-filled streets, red eyes glowing under the cover of shadow-filled alleyways and sewer drains. The few brave (or perhaps foolish) enough to wander the streets wore heavy bags under their sunken eyes, frantically scanning the area with every step. The women were scantily clad, wreaking of marijuana and alcohol, while the men clung tightly to the tattered trench-coats shielding them from the world.

Buildings loomed over them, tall as mountains, filling the blood-colored skyline with ragged paint jobs and broken windows. Stains of varying shades—mainly red—ran up and down the sidewalks, mixing with the dirt and broken glass. A few bricks lay scattered about, where they had either tumbled down from the structure above or had simply been removed.

"I do not like this place," Starfire's brows furrowed together.

"That's putting it mildly," Tim stated bluntly as he parked his motorcycle in a vacant nook behind what used to be a small pawn shop. "Pardon my language, but I f-ing  _hate_  this place."

She did not question the logic in leaving behind what appeared to be a valuable means of transport, trusting that Tim knew what he was doing, but that did not stop her from glancing behind ever few steps as they headed towards a large cluster of bars and strip clubs. She winced as they passed by a dimly-lit building with windows large enough for her to see exactly what was occurring just beyond the glass. A glimpse brought heat to her cheeks; a second glance made her sick to her stomach.

"Don't let them see you frightened," Tim whispered. "Most of these street scum are smart enough not to mess with us, but you gotta make 'em think you could take them in a fight without breaking a sweat...which, I might add, you probably could."

A weak smile tugged at her lips, knowing that Tim was more than likely just trying to ease her discomfort. She was grateful for the attempt.

Roughly half a minute into their stroll, Tim stopped and looked up. Starfire tried to match his gaze, but the new Boy Wonder was reaching for a nearby fire escape before she could find what had caught his attention. She floated gently beside him up the building, refraining from asking any questions in case they were trying to do the 'sneak attack,' and made very little noise when she landed on the rooftop. Only then did she see what Tim had been after, and the sight caused her to inaudibly gasp, freezing on the spot.

A young man casually sat on the opposite edge, resting one arm atop a bended knee as he stared out onto the city below. His back was to them, though the side of his face was just barely visible. The outfit he wore looked to be all black, clinging to his well-defined physique like a second skin. His hair, too, was black, swept back to fall just above his shoulders in fine, silky strands.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" he called out suddenly.

Starfire's eyes widened, and she took a step back instinctively before realizing that he had been speaking to Tim.

"Can't a guy just stop by and say 'hi' anymore?" The boy replied in a joking manner. By this time, he had made his way over until he stood directly in the man's line of vision.

"Never said he couldn't." A pause. "How's Rose doing?"

Tim's eyes noticeable softened at the mentioning of the white-haired girl. "She's...better. I just dropped her off with Doctor Kane for a visit."

"Lemme guess. You were in the neighborhood, and decided to stop by."

"Not quite." Tim smirked. "Actually...I brought you a present."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Turn around and you'll see."

Starfire's breath caught in her throat as she watched the man slowly turn his head to look at her. She remained rooted to the concrete ground as his eyes flickered over her face for a fraction of a second before recognitions set in. He was on his feet almost instantly; from there it was as if his entire body froze, as much in shock as she.

"I don't believe it..." the words came out in little more than a whisper, but the wind somehow managed to carry them to her ears. "S...Starfire? Is it really you?"

Not trusting herself to speak, she simply nodded.

He took a tentative step towards her, never once breaking eye contact. Seconds later, he took another...then another...until, finally, only a short distance separated the two. They continued to stare at one another in silence for several moments, at a complete loss for words.

He was taller than her now, she absently noted, by at least a few inches. She had to look up to meet his piercing gaze, still obstructed by that opaque mask. His arms and chest had broadened, and she could clearly make out a set of rippling abs beneath the thin cloth covering his torso. Before she could stop herself, her fingers had traveled to the blue symbol spread across his chest; her eyes followed the outline of what looked to be a large bird. One much larger than the diminutive Earth robin.

An almost inaudible sigh escaped his lips then, and she looked back up...only to realize that she could no longer see his face. The tears that had been threatening to overwhelm her since her arrival in this new world finally erupted, flowing freely down her cheeks and blurring her vision. With the last of her energy, she collapsed into his warm, strong arms, burying her face into his chest as she cried. She cried for the time they had lost together, for the old friends she missed so dearly, and the misfortunes that had already befallen her new friends.

Nightwing held the distraught girl tightly to his chest, pressing his face into the top of her hair. It didn't matter to him that they had an audience—he had lost her once before, and now that he had found her again, he wasn't going to let go anytime soon.


	3. Chapter 3

" _Dude!_ "

Starfire recoiled back into the large, plush chair as his exclamation came booming over the speaker system. The sound echoed off the stone walls of the underground base, further amplifying the volume. Still—despite the slight ringing in her ears—she could not keep the bright smile off her face as she stared up at the large monitor.

"Please, I have always wondered something." She began, sitting up a little straighter. "Why is it you have always referred to whomever you speak as 'dude', regardless of gender? Are you not aware that, even by Earth standards, I am a female?"

For the first time in his life, Garfield Logan was in too great a state of shock to laugh.

She used the momentary lapse in conversation to take in his altered appearance; the once puny boy had grown considerably since she had last seen him, a fact made even more evident by the thin wife-beater just barely covering his chest. Years of travel and physical exertion had transformed his arms into thick, strong blocks of muscle, and while his upper torso was not quite as broad as Nightwing's, it had filled out considerably. Even his hair was longer now, falling limply in all directions. His eyes were slightly red, the lines of sleep still marring his features as he blinked several times in the span of a minute.

A quick glance at the nearest clock told her that it was just after eight-thirty at night, Blüdhaven time. Nearly half an hour after Tim had left to bring Rose back to Titans Tower. Taking into account what she had learned of Earth Zones of Time, that would have put Beast Boy's current location (South Africa) sometime in the ungodly hours of the morning...which explained his current state of disarray.

"So," the eighteen-year-old rubbed at his eyes one last time, as if to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Any chance I'm going to get an answer on where you've been the last for years? Or is this just some really, really bizarre dream I'm having?"

He carried himself differently, Starfire noticed. His voice was more controlled. Deeper. More mature.

"Not a dream, Changeling." Nightwing's own baritone came from directly above; she looked up to find him leaning against the top of the chair. "That portal she and Warp went through back then sent them spiraling through the time loop, where they ended up here. More specifically, around thirty hours ago."

"... _dude!_ " he exclaimed again, for lack of anything better to say.

Starfire and Nightwing shared am amused glance at their friend's expense, finding humor in his reaction. Her eyes soon flickered back to the screen, however, as a sudden thought occurred to her.

"Wait, why did Ro—Nightwing just now address you as 'Changeling'?"

"Oh, that's what I go by now. See, soon after my sixteenth birthday, I had a bit of a growth spurt...as you might have noticed." Smirking, he made a show of flexing his biceps a few times. Starfire gave a small giggle, much to his delight. "It got harder and harder to listen to people keep calling me Boy, so I decided it was time for a Change... _ling_." He purposely emphasized the last syllable, wagging his eyebrows in the process. "Get it?"

Nightwing groaned loudly at the horrible pun, pressing a palm to his forehead.

Even though she definitely did  _not_  'get it', Starfire found herself laughing anyway. She had missed her friend's odd sense of humor more than she first realized, and it felt good to laugh at that point.

"Oh, Star, I knew there was a reason I missed you! You're the only one who always laughed at my jokes." Changeling sighed dramatically, shooting Nightwing a quick sideways glare. "How many years now have my talents been wasted on humorless peons like him?"

The 'humorless peon' in question gave a dark smirk. "You're not giving her enough credit, Gar. Even Star wouldn't 'always' laugh at  _your_  jokes. If you could even call them that."

"Do you see what I have to put up with?" Changeling turned to Starfire with a pout, searching for support.

She smiled sympathetically. "Friend Raven always seemed to find your play of words... _unique_ , did she not?"

At the sudden mentioning of the dark sorceress, however, the humor in Changeling's eyes evaporated. His body stiffened as his smile faded, and while he did not look particularly sad, it was as if he were remembering something less than pleasant from his past.

Fearing the worst, Starfire's eyes widened. "Did something happen to Raven while I was not around?"

"It's...a long story." Changeling looked away.

"I am most eager to hear it," she insisted gently. "...if you would be willing to share."

Changeling glanced back up, sparing a fleeting glance in Nightwing's direction. For his part, Dick looked relatively impassive, though it was obvious he was listening intently. Garfield had never fully told him the story of why he and Raven had ultimately left the Titans, and he had never attempted to pry. Not to say that he wasn't still curious...

A sigh of defeat. "It all started shortly after Nightwing left. Now, don't get me wrong...Superboy made a great leader, and the twins were fun and all...but things just weren't the same. Raven started growing more and more distant. She'd lock herself in her room for days at a time, coming out only to eat and fight the occasional villain. She wouldn't talk to anyone, not even me or Cyborg."

"That doesn't sound all that unusual." Nightwing commented.

Starfire nodded her agreement.

"It was even worse than before, though," Changeling tried to explain. "Something was off. I could tell. I started to get really worried about her when she wouldn't answer my knocks...so I did something really, really stupid." He paused for dramatic effect. "I went into her room."

"And you lived?" Nightwing was only half-joking.

"Obviously." He shrugged. "Oh, she was pissed as all hell to start with, for certain. If I hadn't known her better, I would've thought she was going to maim me right there and then.

"But I stood my ground, bit back any of my wittier comments, and told her flat out that I wasn't leaving until she talked to me. Made a show of sitting on her bed, arms folded and everything. I didn't exactly threaten to hold my breath, though I might've if I thought it would've helped. Here's here's the weird thing, though: it worked. She gave in and started talking."

"Just like that?"

He shook his head. "Not entirely. At first, it was mostly just things that we already knew about each other. We talked about you two, about the team...the little things, you know? But eventually...yeah, she really started to open up more. Started telling me things that she never really told anyone." He sighed at the memory. "I told her a lot about myself, too. Details about my parents, how I got my powers. For a while, I really thought we had something going...until Malchior came."

Nightwing's eyes narrowed. He recalled hearing that name from one of Superboy's mission statements in the past.

Starfire, noticing his expression, frowned. "Who is this Malchior? Was he another villain?"

"Even worse." Changeling's expression saddened. "He was her first love, so to speak."

 _That_ , neither of them had been expecting. Nightwing raised both eyebrows, but Starfire had been more vocal in her reaction; she had been convinced, the way Changeling spoke of his relationship with Raven until then, that the two had been on their way to a more romantic involvement.

"I do not understand. How is it that this Malchior person came to be her first love, and not you?"

A slight blush rose to Changeling's cheeks at the girl's bluntness, but he shook it off an continued with his tale: "She'd been reading this really old book about some battle between a dragon and a knight by the name of Malchior Apparently, the knight guy's soul had been sealed inside, and her powers allowed it to be released temporarily. She started spending more and more time with him, trying to find a way to free him from the curse once and for all. Over time, she started to fall for him, I guess."

"I've heard that name from Superboy," Nightwing interjected, frowning. "But he told me that Malchior was the name of the dragon, not the knight."

"Exactly," It was as if his face had been permanently fixated into a look of disgust. "Turns out, the bastard had been using Raven the whole time, stringing her along so that she would free him from his prison. Once she did, he wasted no time turning on her, attacking us and the Tower."

Starfire gasped. "Poor Raven!"

"You have no idea," Changeling sighed. "She was able to defeat him easily enough, for certain, but the damage had already been done. As unstable as she had been before...well..."

*** * ***

*** * ***

_He stood in her doorway, wrestling with the duel emotions of anger and sadness that welled within him. Anger at the one who had caused her such pain; sadness that it had led her to her current state of mind. Even as he watched her scramble about, the majority of her things had already been packed._

" _But why?" He finally asked, daring to step into the room. "Rae, you don't have to go. It wasn't your fault."_

_Raven was a mess, physically and mentally. She was paler than usual, hair mussed from the aftershocks of residual magiks still circulating through her. Her eyes were glazed over, like she had been crying since the battle's end, and she refused to meet his concerned gaze._

" _You don't understand." When at last she did speak, her voice was timid. Drained. "I need to leave. Maybe not for good...but for now, at least." She continued to dart around the room, busying herself with menial tasks._

" _If this is about what that dragon did—"_

" _It's not about Malchior," she insisted, though he watched her visibly winced at the name. "Not anymore, at least."_

_Lips pressing together in a firm grimace, he crossed the room until he was directly in her line of sight. His hands reached for hers, keeping her from escaping again. Their eyes met, and his softened._

" _Tell me what's going on."_

_She inhaled sharply and made a weak attempt to pull away. When it was clear to them both that he wouldn't budge, she sighed and looked down. "What he did...what he made me do...feel...it unleashed something. Something I can no longer control."_

_He thought back to the countless conversations they had shared in the past few weeks, understanding almost immediately: "You're worried about your father's influence, aren't you?"_

" _It's more than that." She shook her head. "I can feel it. Growing inside me every day, feeding off my powers. I...I can't fight it any longer." Her voice quivered, though she kept the tears at bay. "I need to return to Azarath in hopes that they will be able to seal it away until I have the strength to destroy it."_

" _And what if they can't?"_

" _Then at least I won't be putting your world in danger any longer."_

_She was nearly leaning against him now, subconsciously looking to him to support her. One hand still clasped tightly in hers, he gently wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her close. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder, no longer caring about the close proximity she once shied away from. There would no longer be any need to._

" _It's your world too, Rae." He reminded her. The gentle vibrations in his chest felt soothing. Comforting. "There's gotta be something we can do to keep you here."_

_She was quiet for a while, before: "Not anymore, there's not."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _The ancients...they told of one possibility." She lifted her head to look at him. It was almost strange how easy it felt to talk to him again, like they had before. "To plant the Seed into the soul of another. One who was pure, whose existence it would not be able to feed off of. There, it would lay dormant, waiting, giving me the chance to complete my training."_

" _I take it you already had somebody in mind?" He questioned, though it came out more like a statement._

_She nodded. "Starfire. We shared a bond from the day the Puppet King switched our minds; such a connection would have protected her from the Seed and keep it from harming her in any way." Her eyes closed. "But she's gone now. It's impossible."_

" _No. It's not." He shook his head. "What about me?"_

_Her eyes snapped open, and she looked up him in shock. "What? No! I would never ask you to—"_

" _You're not asking, Rae. I'm offering." He took a breath. "Would our bond be enough to protect me if I were to become the receiver?"_

" _No...I don't...you..." She tried to pull away, but his grip remained firm. "You can't! It's too dangerous!"_

" _I don't care about that." He stated simply. "I care about_ you _, Rae. You're my best friend, and if this is what it takes to help you, I'm willing to take the risk."_

_Her heart pounded in her chest. "Beast Boy..." She swallowed audibly, her resolve faltering. "T-the Seed...it would have to be transferred through lip contact..."_

" _You're not doing a very good job of convincing me to back out, you know," he half-joked, smirking as he raised an eyebrow._

_For a moment, she felt the familiar wave of aggravation stir beneath the fear. Her eyes narrowed at his not-so-subtle implications, though secretly she was grateful for the distraction it provided. But then, that's what had ultimately always drawn her to him—his ability to distract her from the fear._

" _Don't read too much into this," she warned him before leaning forward. Her eyelids fluttered closed, as did his._

_In the next instant, their lips met._

_Her body seemed to move of its own accord, gently pressing her form against his as a hand rose to his chest. A wave of vertigo swept over her as she realized she needed to push off her heels to better meet him; he had had another growth spurt. The still-developing muscle beneath his suit was soft, but warm. She could feel his pulse beneath her fingertips, fast and strong._

_A second later, she felt his arms embrace her tightly, pulling her even closer. She gasped slightly at his boldness, then instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. No lust controlled either of their actions, however—only the warmth that came with the level of intimacy._

_It was then she felt the stirring deep within her as the Seed slowly rose, a tiny shell of emptiness and malice. Her entire body began to tremble as she felt it struggle against her. Her knees grew weak; he thought she would loose consciousness at any moment._

_As if sensing her distress, Beast Boy only held on tighter._

_When at last the transfer had been completed, Raven slowly pulled back. Her eyes remained closed, not trusting herself to look at him then._

" _It wasn't supposed to mean anything," she insisted, more to herself than him. Even at barely a whisper, her voice still quivered._

_His forehead leaned against hers. "It's never that simple, Rae. You can't just share a moment like that with one you're close to, and not expect to feel anything."_

" _I...don't want to leave."_

" _I don't want you to go." He murmured softly, but then pulled away. The sudden lack of warmth—both outward as well as in—did not go unnoticed between them. "But I understand why you have to. I just want you do know that you'll always have someone to come back to." As he spoke, he reached up and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers._

_For a time, she allowed herself to relish in the touch, knowing it would be their last. She raised her own hand to meet with his; their fingers intertwined._

" _Goodbye, Garfield." She said, purposely referring to him by name._

" _Not goodbye, Rachel." He shook his head. "More of a 'see you later'."_

_In their last moment together, she looked up at him with the truest smile he had ever seen her wear...then closed her eyes, whispered a few words, and was gone._

* * *

* * * 

For a while, nobody said anything.

"Officially, she was declared missing in action," Changeling eventually stated. "But in truth, she had to go back to her home world in order to train. I don't know when she's coming back, but I have every faith that she will."

Starfire had grown solemnly quiet during the boy's story, focused on one particular aspect: "This...Seed of which you spoke, that is now inside you. It was supposed to be...I who she originally implanted?"

"I wouldn't put it that way, exactly." He winced. "You were her first option, yeah. But I was able to provide another."

"Doesn't this have anything to do with why you took off at roughly the same time she did?" Nightwing asked.

"It's...hard to explain." Changeling's face twisted as he struggled to think of the right words. "After Rae left, I started feeling really anxious. Restless. Like something was calling me away from the Tower. I dunno if it's the Seed's influence, or if it's something else altogether.. All I know is that I've been sort of traveling 'round the world ever since."

"So you would not have gone if I had not vanished on that day?" Starfire asked softly.

Changeling's eyes went wide, and he frantically waved his arms across his face. "N-no, don't take it like that! I'm sure Raven would've been hesitant to transfer it to you, regardless. I mean, she had to  _kiss_  me to..." his voice trailed off suddenly as a thought occurred to him. The corners of his lips twitched. "Actually, that might've been pretty interesting to see."

"Gar..." Nightwing warned, the look on his face clearly stating he was not amused.

"Oh, don't act like you weren't just picturing it in your head now, too. Admit it."

A small, red light beneath the monitor started to blink, drawing Nightwing's attention. His eyes flickered to the small display screen, an eyebrow raising as he recognized the signal's origin.

"I know that look." Changeling muffled a yawn as he spoke. "Go. Fight the baddies. Kick some butt and take names while you're at it. I should get back to bed, anyway." He turned to Starfire with a wave. "It was good to see you again, Star. I'm glad you're okay."

"It was most delightful to see you as well, Changeling," she replied back, also waving.

Nightwing clicked a few keys on the console, and the green-skinned boy was replaced with the image of a young, red-haired woman with fair skin and a serious expression. She looked to be in her early twenties at most.

"What's up, Babs?" Nightwing asked her. "I didn't think you were on patrol tonight."

"I'm not. But I overheard an interesting tip from Daddy this evening regarding that Desmond fella you've been hunting, and I thought you might like to hear it." It was then that she noticed the sixteen-year-old sitting in Dick's usual seat. "Wait, who's this?"

Nightwing casually waved one hand. "Babs, meet Starfire. Star, this is Barbara Gordon. Also known as Batgirl."

"Bat...girl?" Starfire repeated, tilting one head to the side as she looked up at him. "Is she of any relation to the Batman?"

"She's part of the team."Barbara, meanwhile, was staring at the younger girl with a look of disbelief. "Wait, you mean this is  _the_  Starfire? The one who disappeared a while back? The one you used to go on for hours and hours about because you could never admit you were totally smit—"

"The information, Babs?" He interrupted in a dry tone. "That thing you called specifically to tell me about?"

"Uh-uh, Dick. Don't think you're getting out of this one." Barbara was grinning now. "You couldn't possibly have thought I would just let something like this slide so easily!"

He sighed. "Please?"

She froze, then gave a pout. "You just had to go and use the 'p' word, didn't you?" Sighing in an overdramatic manner, she glanced downward. The sound of clicking keys could be heard from her end. "I'm sending you the records now. If Daddy's source is correct, your guy slipped up big this time. Cell phone GPS signals place him at the nightclub at the time of incident, despite his claims that he was bumping uglies with one of his lady friends halfway across town."

Nightwing frowned at her choice of language, shooting Starfire a quick glance. The Tamaranian seemed bewildered by the conversation at hand and for once, he was thankful for her lack of understanding more colloquial Earth phrases. He turned back to the monitor.

"Would that really be though, though? He could easily claim one of his cronies had taken the damn thing for the night, or he'd left it there from a prior visit."

"Ah, but here is where you crown me Queen of the Batcave." Barbara held up a finger to emphasize her point. "Not only to phone company records show that two calls were made from that exact location minutes after, but we have enough of an audio recording to match his vocal patterns. It's him."

"And the Joker connection?"

"Negatory. Desmond's definitely working for someone else this time." Barbara rolled her eyes, then grimaced. "Ironically enough, Harley's alibi is that she and Ivy were off on some other wild scheme of theirs." If possible, her frown deepened. "Ugh...I  _hate_  it when those two team up."

"Thanks for the info, Babs," Nightwing quickly interrupted, trying to avoid being on the receiving end on another of the girl's rants. She tended to get rather touchy whenever it came to the two  _femme fatales_. "I'll give you an update once Desmond and I have a little chat."

"Wait!" She cried out. "I still wanna know what's up with Star—"

But Nightwing ended the transmission before she could get in another word.

Starfire watched as he gave a huge sigh of relief, finding his discomfort oddly humorous. "The Batgirl is very...interesting, is she not?"

"Like the big sister I never wanted." He muttered, though not without a faint smile, then looked to her apologetically. "Listen, I need to go through these files before we head back to Jump. It shouldn't take too long."

She smiled in understanding, spinning the chair around to better face him. Some things, it seemed, would never change; the Earth would always revolve around the star  _Sol_ , Garfield Logan would always crack lame jokes, and Dick Grayson would always be a workaholic.

"It is alright. I will wait."

"Thanks, Kori." He spoke her name as they traded places, turning back to the monitor. Before he began, he called back over his shoulder, "There should still be some cocoa in the thermos over there. I remember how much you like cocoa. Help yourself." He motioned to a small corner of the room, at what looked to be a kitchen-like area. There were a few large thermoses, a miniature ice cooler, a microwave, and several drawers that were no doubt filled with unhealthy, yet mouthwatering snacks.

"Cocoa would be nice." She agreed. The corners of her lips twitched as she tried to maintain as innocent an aura as possible. "I do not suppose you have any of the cream that is whipped?"

"Oh, no. I'm not falling for that one again. Not after what happened last time. You can't be trusted."

His tone was extremely joking as he struggled to contain his laughter. She, too, muffled a wave of giggles as the reasons behind his words surfaced in her mind...

*** * ***

*** * ***

" _It's called cocoa." He explained slowly, emphasizing the name so she would understand easier. "Wanna try some?"_

_She nodded shyly, reaching out to take it. However, no sooner did the drink touch her lips than she abruptly pulled back with a faint cry of surprise. Were it not for Robin's quick reflexes, she would have dropped the whole thing._

" _Sorry about that. Guess it's too hot." He replied sheepishly, knowing she couldn't understand his explanation._

_One hand still held both of hers to the mug while the other reached into a nearby drawer, pulling out a large tablespoon. Dipping it into the chocolaty mix, he stirred a few times before gathering a small amount. Koriand'r watched his every movement through peripheral vision, her eyes never once leaving his, as he raised the spoon and lightly blew on it once. The steam swirled around the air briefly before vanishing entirely._

" _Try this." His voice came out much quieter than before, partially due to the close distance between them._

_Taking that as her cue, she cautiously leaned forward and took a sip. No longer burning her tongue, the rich flavor delighted her taste buds and warmed her throat as she felt it smoothly trickle all the way down: "Mmm." She murmured in delight, earning a faint laugh from Robin._

" _I guess that means you like it," he commented as she took another sip, this time from the mug._

_Since she had all but taken over the cocoa, he happily turned back to the counter to fix a second cup for himself. A quick scan of the fridge even revealed a decent stash of whipped cream left, so he squirted a pile on top. Unfortunately, a bit of it got on his nose as he drank, resulting in Koriand'r bursting into a fit of giggles at the sight of him._

" _What?" He questioned, unaware of the froth on his nose. She pointed to a nearby toaster, where he managed to catch a glimpse of himself in the metallic reflection. "Haha. Very funny." He commented dryly, but couldn't keep the smirk off his face. "You know, you look like you could use a little…"_

_Robin scooped a small amount on one finger and smeared in on her nose. She let out a shriek of both surprise and amusement, pulling away just seconds too late. This only encouraged him further, however, as he tried to get a little more on her. But she was a fast learner, ducking before he had the chance while managing to acquire a small amount of her own ammo. Namely, the entire can. They were now at a stalemate, with Robin at a clear disadvantage, and she was giving him an uncharacteristically impish grin._

" _You wouldn't dare…" Robin challenged, slowly backing away from the Tamaranian. She pretended to advance for a few seconds before hesitating and lowering the can in a sign of submission. Taking the bait, Robin let down his guard and moved closer…only to have a shower of whipped cream spurted all over him: "Hey, no fair!" he whined, grabbing her wrists to hopefully prevent any more 'surprises.'_

_She let out a squeal at his sudden action and tried to wiggle her way out, but Robin held tight, twisting her around so that he could grab the other arm. The half-empty can clattered to the floor and innocently rolled away, suddenly all but forgotten by the two teens._

_Koriand'r struggled vainly against his hold; drawing her hands in close to her waist until her back was leaning up against his broad chest with both his arms wrapped around her. Yet, in spite of the close proximity, neither noticed, as they were too preoccupied with their laughter to the point where it became difficult for either of them._

*** * ***

*** * ***

"I am surprised you remembered such a thing after all this time," she commented. "For me, it has been mere months, but for you..."

"I remembered all the good times we had together, Kori. Without you, those memories were all I had left" He stated softly, and though his back was already to her, she stilled turned away so he would not see her blush.

Her interest soon turned to the room before her, dimly lit and cold, but far from empty. In the center, resting on its own platform, sat Nightwing's personal means of transportation. It delighted her more than she thought it would to see that her Robin still preferred motorcycles, even after four years. The chrome glistened as if new, despite evidence that the machine had been well used in its lifetime. Several rags and tools scattered around the general vicinity betrayed its secret.

Circling around the bike (and silently wondering just how many hours Nightwing spent cleaning and repairing the thing), Starfire turned to see a set of three glass cases against the back wall. Each contained a mannequin dressed in distinctly familiar costumes.

Her eyes lingered over the first, nostalgia washing over her as she ran her fingertips over the glass. How long had it been since her Robin had worn the costume she had come to associate with his very presence? The costume he wore as they fought crime together, along with their teammates and friends? The costume she had met him in?

Adjacent to the colorful ensemble was its near opposite. The dress form was covered by a thick body suit, black save for the large red X slashed across the chest. Its mask seemed to double as a helmet, with a disturbing. skull-like design on the face. Starfire shivered slightly at the memories of Robin's stint as  _Red X_ , before moving on.

The final tube, however, brought about memories she wished she never had in the first place.

Black and rusty orange made up the body, with a distinct "R" symbol on the upper right breast. Almost in mocking. Starfire's eyes flickered to one wrist, where she noticed the familiar laser that had once been pointed directly at her. Her eyes shut tightly as she vainly tried to force the images from her mind...

*** * ***

*** * ***

" _Do...not...move." Her eyes glowed menacingly as she held up a single hand. The heat from her star-bolt radiated in great waves, mirroring the intensity of her emotions at that moment._

_Robin said nothing, but simply raised the weapon her way, aimed directly at her heart._

*** * ***

*** * ***

With a slight gasp, she forced her eyes open. It was then she noticed the web-like cracks that extended from a spot just above her eye-level. The area of impact looked approximately the size of a man's fist, and something told her it had been made fairly recently.

An object to the lower left of the tube caught her sight. She knelt down and picked up the warped plastic, holding it in direct light to get a better look.

The duel-colored image of Slade's mask stared back at her.

"Where did you find that?" Nightwing's voice called out suddenly. She spun around to find him only a few feet away, his expression unreadable. She hadn't heard him approach.

"Robin, what is this?" She asked, holding out the mask unabashed. "Why do you have Slade's mask?"

He did not answer, nor correct her choice of moniker, but instead marched forward and swiped the item from her hand. She flinched at the sudden harshness of his actions, stepping back reflexively.

"I don't want to talk about it," he stated in a low voice, turning away.

"Robin," she called to him, again deliberately using the name she had once known him by. He froze, and she hesitated before asking again, "Why do you have his mask?"

"I said I  _don't want to talk about it_."

The coldness in his tone sent an uncomfortable shiver down her spine. Her Robin had never spoken to her before in such a manner. Still, in spite of the growing unease in the pit of her stomach, she clenched her fists together and repeated her question for a third time:

"Why do you have his mask?"

Nightwing's form remained still for a while, and because his back was to her, she not see the look on his face. His body language betrayed nothing, and for a time, she thought she might have been overreacting about the mask. Surely, there were any number of explanations?

But then, without warning, he let out a ferocious cry as he threw the mask across the room. It crashed into the hard rock wall with such a force that it shattered, shards of plastic scattering across the floor below.

Starfire recoiled in fear, eyes wide as she stared at the sudden stranger before her.

"You want to know? Fine." He turned back to her, his voice eerily calm for what had just transpired. "Most of it's still a blur, and I don't even remember bringing the mask back with me, but the reason why I have it in the first place is because I removed it from Slade's face myself." He paused before adding: "...right after I killed him."


	4. Chapter 4

She was a hypocrite. A complete and utter hypocrite.

It would have been a lie to say that she had never taken a life before. Not just in self-defense, either; opponents during the harsh Okaara trials...Gordanian soldiers who mean to deliver her to the Citadel...Psion "doctors" who had performed countless hours of torture on her body in the name of science. Some had been the victims of tradition, while others had been the target of pure revenge. More than a dozen in all had fallen by her hands.

Granted, those had been extreme circumstances, but the fact remained that she was no different than he. Possibly even worse. She was heir to the throne of a proud warrior race, after all. Her people thrived on the rush of battle and thrill of victory over their enemies. Even their language sounded harsh to the ears.

Then why did the knowledge of Robin killing Slade continue to haunt her so?

No, that wasn't even correct. It was  _Nightwing_  who had done the deed—a new name to go with his new life.

*** * ***

The trip back to Jump City had been filled with unspoken thoughts and a palpable aura of tension. Nightwing hardly said a word to her since his admission in the underground base, though by then her thoughts had grown so distant that she hardly noticed. Neither mentioned the fact that she still rode behind him on the motorcycle as opposed to taking flight.

Only when the pair had entered the Tower's main hallway did she finally break the silence. He had gone on ahead, oblivious to the fact that she had stopped walking, and therefore had been surprised to hear her delicate voice call out to him:

"How?"

He turned around, and noticed that more than ten feet stood in between them. "How what?"

"How could you take a life?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she feared speaking any louder, and yet he was able to hear every word. "The Robin I knew would never—"

"Please try to understand, Star." He took a step forward. Gone were the traces of raw anger previously shown, replaced with an overwhelming sense of regret and guilt. "I had to. He was a monster."

She shook her head, stepping back. "That does not make it right."

"It doesn't make it wrong, either."

Her eyes closed as she struggled with the pain in her heart. She wanted so badly to disagree with him—to say that  _yes_ , it _was_ wrong. But she could not. Not if she truly didn't believe them.

Again, he braved another step towards her. "You saw what he'd done. What he was capable of. If he could do such a thing to his own daughter, then there's no telling what—"

"Daughter?" Her eyes snapped open in surprise, and for a moment, she forgot her inner turmoil. "What do you mean? What daughter?"

His body stiffened as realization quickly dawned on him. Then his expression grew dark. "I guess they haven't told you," he murmured, though more to himself than her. His next sentence, though spoken at a normal volume, rang through the large hallway as loud as if he had shouted: "Rose is Slade's daughter."

Starfire's breath caught in her throat; her mind instantly went back to the tale Donna and the others had shared with her earlier. "You mean...?"

"His own daughter," Nightwing repeated, torn between anger and pity. "She showed him nothing but loyalty and obedience, followed his every command without question...and in return, he drugged her into a near catatonic state without a  _shred_  of remorse."

Her hands flew to her mouth, and she stumbled forward in shock before regaining her balance. An overwhelming surge of emotions welled from within as she thought of the frail white-haired beauty, forever scarred by a horrendous self-inflicted wound while under the influence of the aforementioned drugs. Who could barely make eye contact, let alone speak. She thought of Tim, whose life now revolved around caring for Rose. The sadness in his gaze every time he looked at her, as if thinking of what could have been—what had been so wrongly taken from them both.

No longer trusting herself to look at Nightwing, Starfire turned away. Her fists clenched together at her sides, and she could feel the surge of heat as the strength of her feelings summoned the star-bolt powers within. She felt fury. A fury that was anything but righteous. And for a fleeting moment...she understood.

 _But_ , her mind continued to wonder,  _does that still make it right for Nightwing to have that man's blood on his hands?_

Once again, she was a complete and utter hypocrite.

A sudden scream ripped through the air, breaking her from her thoughts. The bolts forming in her palms dissipated as she turned back to face Nightwing in question. His eyes were equally wide with surprise, though he motioned towards the entrance of the main common area. Nodding once, she quickly followed him down the hallway and through the large doors.

The sight that greeted them halted both in their tracks: near the center of the room, Rose was struggling furiously against Conner's firm hold, the boy having pinned both her arms to her sides as he tried to subdue her. Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of his face as he fought against her chemically-enhanced strength while keeping her from hurting herself or any of the others.

While Manuel and Miguel were noticeably absent, the remaining three Titans stood around looking helpless. Virgil was sharing uncertain glances with Donna as they both alternated their line of sight between the super-strength duo and a frantic Tim.

"What happened?" The boy kept asking.

"We don't know!" Donna had to shout over another wave of Rose's vocal protests. A large bruise was already beginning to form on one cheek. "She just started screaming! I thought she was having one of her visions, so I tried to hold her hand like the doctor said, and she went ballistic!"

Just then, Rose's eye rolled to the back of her head as she fell limp in Conner's arms. Her body began shaking at a frighteningly violent rate.

"Oh, sh-!" Conner hissed, looking to the others for help. "I think she's seizing."

Oddly enough, Tim was suddenly calm as he stepped forward, removing the cape from his shoulders.

"Lie her down on the floor on her left side." He rolled the fabric into a makeshift pillow and placed it on the ground. "Hold her up, but don't try to immobilize her." Conner followed his every order without question, and together, the two worked to ease the girl's spastic form into position.

"I'll call her doctor," Virgil offered, running to the nearest phone.

"Donna?" Tim called over his shoulder. "Can you see a clock from where you're standing?"

The Amazonian's eyes were already fixated on the large analog clock just above the kitchen entrance. "Yeah. I'm timing her now."

Seconds ticked passed, and gradually, Rose's trembles began to subside. A minute after the episode began, she grew still. Conner gave Donna a nod to indicate the end mark before helping Rose roll onto her back. The girl emitted a low groan, head flopping lazily from side to side as she subconsciously tried to burrow deeper into Tim's cape.

Then her lips moved.

Tim blinked twice. "Rose?"

"No...doctor." She mumbled, louder this time. "No...more...doctors..."

Tim and Conner looked up at one another with a start, each checking to see if the other had heard the same. Rose had not spoken coherently since the eve of her accident—a few words and broken sentences, perhaps, but nothing indicative of an awareness of her surroundings.

"Rose?" Tim leaned down, his voice low. "Can you hear me? Do you know who I am?"

Slowly, the girl's uncovered lid fluttered open. Her head turned just enough for their eyes to meet; hers was clouded over from fatigue, but the recognition in it was unmistakable.

"You're...Tim," she whispered, offering a weak smile. "My Tim."

Tim swallowed audibly as a lump formed in his throat. She  _knew_  him. Knew what he was to her, and she to him.

With a shaky hand, he reached up to brush away the sweat-covered locks from her forehead before resting it against her cheek. She, in turn, lifted her own hand to cover his and leaned further into his touch. For a moment, it was just the two of them in the room; not caring that the others were watching, Tim leaned down and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him.

"Hera," Donna gasped. For once, she lacked a single wisecrack. "I can't believe it."

Rose was the first to pull away from the embrace, sensing someone else approach. She turned her head just enough to see a masked man dressed in black come to kneel by her feet.  _Nightwing_ , her mind told her as she searched through the haze of memories. A friend.

"I'm not sure if you realize this, Rose," he began, his voice gentle. "But you just had a seizure. We need to take you to see a doctor."

Her body tensed at the thought, and she vehemently shook her head. "No. No Arkham. No more."

"Fine." Nightwing made a mental note to inquire further at a later time, when she was better. "We'll take you to a regular hospital. You need to be checked out so we can figure out what caused the seizure."

Her eyes widened, and she turned back to Tim in search of support. The boy was already reaching for her hand, gently stroking her knuckles with his thumb. She would have relished in the loving gesture had something just beyond his shoulder caught her attention.

A gasp escaped her lips, and she immediately shot up into a sitting position. "You!"

Initial protests against her sudden movement ceased as the room followed her line of vision...where they saw Starfire staring back in confusion, still rooted to the floor just inside the common area doorway.

"M-me?"

"Yes." Rose's face took on a misty-eyed expression, staring at something beyond what the others could see. "You...you do not belong here."

Misunderstanding, Starfire looked away. "I am sorry. I realize that I may no longer be considered a part of the current team of Titans, but I have nowhere else to—"

"I didn't mean you don't belong here." Rose interrupted. "I meant you don't belong  _here_. In this time."

"I...fear I do not understand."

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated as a sudden wave of pain shot through her skull. She winced, a hand rising to her temple, as she gave a small whimper. Tim was at her side at once, wrapping his arm around her shoulders in support.

"A vision?" he guessed.

She burrowed her face into his neck, murmuring, "Yes and no." After a brief pause, she turned back to Starfire. Her eye was narrowed as she tried to make sense of what her Sight was telling her. "Your presence in this world is a...paradox, of sorts. You are not supposed to exist, because you vanished four years ago, and yet it is precisely because you vanished that you are here as your are now." She frowned. "Our future is split because you shouldn't be here. The images are beginning to overlap, melding together in a way that will only bring chaos to the time-stream. There can't be two futures."

"Rose, what are you trying to say?" Tim asked.

She turned to him, expression softening. "What I'm saying, Tim, is that Starfire cannot stay. She needs to return to her own time."

"But, wait." Conner's voice startled them both; they had nearly forgotten he was still there. "If the past tells us that Starfire never actually went home...but then we manage to send her home...what does that say about our present?"

"And furthermore," Donna stepped in. "What's all this nonsense about more than one future? Shouldn't the time-stream adapt itself when something new and unexpected happens?"

Tim looked back to Rose in concern, fearing the sudden barrage of questions would take their toll on her. He knew his teammates were not intentionally trying to gang up on her, but Rose was still physically weak from her most recent ordeal...to say nothing of her state of mind.

Much to his surprise, however, Rose simply shrugged. "I only See what my visions want me to see; I can't control them." Her words were still slow from the months she had gone without speaking, but deliberate all the same. "All I know is that they're telling me a person can't just skip out on four years of existence, then return to the time-stream without disrupting the balance of things."

"Makes sense," Virgil nodded. "But is it even possible to get her home? I mean, do we even know  _how_?"

As if on cue, the familiar Titans' jingle ran through the air. Conner, Donna, Virgil, and Tim each reached for their communicators; Rose's had been damaged some time before, so she was left to lean over Tim's shoulder in order to listen in. He didn't seem to mind.

A frantic voice came bursting through the speakers: " _É_ _l est_ _á_ _aqui! Est_ _á_ _aqui! Mi hermano y yo lo encantramos! S_ _e rompió en la laboratorio y estamos intentando lucharlo, pero es demasiado fuerte!_ "

"For the last time, Miguel," Donna sighed in exasperation. "Speak English!"

There was a faint crackle on the other end, followed by muffled static as the communicator was being passed to another.

"We have found _Se_ _ñ_ _or_  Warp!" This time, it was Manuel. "He is attacking the S.T.A.R. Laboratory  _ahora_!"

"Understood." Conner gave a nod, even thought the twins' video feed was off and they couldn't see him. "We're on our way."

"...Warp." Everyone turned to Nightwing. The young man looked as if he were deep in thought. "If what Rose said is true...that Star needs to return to her original time...then Warp is the answer. That amulet on his chest is the key to getting her home."

Starfire could not see his face then, but the sudden tension in his body as he spoke of her possible return did not go unnoticed.

"I want to come as well," Rose stated abruptly, moving to stand.

"Absolutely not." Nightwing told her. "You're staying here until we can take you to get checked out."

"But—"

"There'll be plenty of other fights in the future. I'm just asking you to sit this one out for your own safety."

Rose's brow furrowed, face scrunching up into an oddly childish expression. She opened her mouth to argue.

"Rose, please." Tim shifted into her line of vision, taking both her hands in his. "I only just got you back. I'd never forgive myself if I lost you again."

All words of protest died on her lips there and then. She exhaled loudly as her shoulders slumped, lowering her head with a single nod of compliance. It always had been impossible for her to go against Tim when he looked at her like that. He probably knew that, too.

Her obedience was rewarded with a light kiss on the forehead, and suddenly it was difficult for her to keep from smiling.

"We'll be back soon. After we stop Warp once and for all." Conner called back over his shoulder, already halfway to the exit. "Titans, let's go!"

*** * ***

It didn't take long for the group to figure out which area of the S.T.A.R. Laboratory main complex was hosting the battle. Even if there hadn't been a gaping hole in the roof of one of the larger buildings, all they had to do was follow the sounds of explosions and bilingual profanities.

Donna came to an abrupt mid-air halt just over twenty meters from ground zero as she caught wind of the twins' choice of language. She let out a gasp of horror.

"Told you." Virgil smirked as he sailed past her.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she followed him through the roof. "Those two are  _so_ grounded."

The entire building, it seemed, consisted of one large room. Most likely, it was a storage facility for the multiple science labs. There were crates and boxes everywhere, scattered about in seemingly random order, with some towering nearly as high as the three-story tall ceiling. Windows had been placed high above the ground, and even with the large hold letting in a decent amount of moonlight, dark shadows were still cast in every corner.

In the center the wooden labyrinth stood a middle-aged man wearing strange, gold-plated armor. He was firing wave after wave of proton beams from an unfamiliar source around his hands, his attention split between a large pile of splintered crates and the wild antics of  _M_ _á_ _s y Menos_. The twins were zipping about at random, attempting to avoid being hit while playing their usual role of decoys. From the looks of their faces, it was providing more of a challenge than usual.

"Serves them right," Donna mumbled to herself, still bitter, before flying over to help Superboy and Static.

Not long after, Starfire and Nightwing arrived at the scene. Robin wasn't far behind them. The former of the three quickly glanced about the room, assessing the situation at hand, before she turned to Nightwing in silent question. Despite the remaining tension between them, habit still led her to look to him for leadership in the heat of battle.

"There's someone behind those crates," Nightwing stated, motioning to the large pile of splintered boxes. "Go see if they're friend or foe, and if they need assistance. "Robin and I'll head for the twins."

She nodded briskly, then summoned the  _boundless confidence_  within that allowed her to soar high above the chaos. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dimly lit area once she landed; when they did, she did a double-take as the sight of a slightly older, but still familiar face came into focus.

"Cyborg?"

"Starfire?" The man's human eye bugged out when he caught a good look at her. "What the—?"

Their reunion was cut short as a stray blast hit the corner of his wooden cover, sending a spray of splinters in all directions. Cyborg had to hold his arms up to shield himself, then turned his attention back to Warp. The robotic circuits on his arm converted to a large cannon—even bigger than the one he used to wield.

"Never mind. I should've guessed after this guy randomly showed up tonight trying to swipe one of our molecular power cells." He sent her a smirk over his shoulder. "Good to see you again, by the way."

"And I, you." She allowed him time to fire a quick succession of shots, waiting until he pulled back to reload before adding, "Have you been well?"

"Well enough. Been working for my dad the last few years. Not a bad gig, really." His tone was humorously casual for a conversation taking place amidst a heavy firefight.

After getting in a few more blasts, he turned to Starfire with a knowing look. She nodded, understanding the silent message, and together they jumped out from behind the crates with near perfect synchronicity. Cyborg made a running dash for Warp, while Starfire provided adequate coverage. Her eyes glowed with righteous _fury_  as she pummeled the area with her star-bolts.

Warp's reflexes were just fast enough for him to duck out of harm's way, narrowly avoiding the brunt of their coordinated attack. He then slid back as Superboy came in with a downward punch. The ground shook violently as it was struck, cracking under the boy's impressive strength. Bits of concrete went flying into the air in the aftermath, and Warp had to raise his arms to shield himself from the debris.

"Not bad," he called out, lowing an arm to aim at a location just beyond Superboy's location. "However, while you Titans may have four years on the last bunch I fought, I still have nearly a hundred on you!"

He fired, but Superboy was able to levitate out of harm's way with ease. Surprising ease. He hovered over the field and observed as Warp continued the assault on an oncoming Static, noting that very few of the shots actually struck the electrically-charged teen.

A second later, Wonder Girl flew over to his side. She was also frowning at the scene.

"What do you think?" Superboy turned to her.

"I don't get it," she murmured. "It's like he's not even trying to hit us."

Below, Warp easily fended off several well-aimed kicks and punches by the duo of Robin and Nightwing. Cyborg came in with another attack, only to find himself all but shunned as Warp turned to blast at the twins' feet. The speedster brothers went flying backwards, crash landing in a nearby wall. Disoriented, but otherwise unharmed, it took them less than a second to rebound.

"You know, I think she's right." Static steadied his electric disk as he came to hover at Wonder Girl's immediate left. Obviously, he had heard their previous exchange. "He really isn't trying. Is he just toying us or something?"

"No. Not toying with us." Superboy's head snapped up as a thought came to him. "Protecting his future."

Wonder Girl's eyes widened. "It's just like Robin said! Starfire  _wasn't_  a part of his original plan. None of us were."

"And he knows that if he causes too much damage now, it'll screw up the future he's trying to return to." Static clenched his fists together, summoning a fresh wave of electricity. "Maybe he should've thought of that before he decided to rob the past."

Encouraged by their sudden revelation, the trio swooped down to rejoin the fight.

Warp fended off a wave of bird-erangs that Robin had thrown his way, then extended an arm to parry Nightwing's bow-staff. Nightwing reacted by pushing off into a back aerial flip, sailing into the air with all the grace of his acrobatic upbringing before landing in a crouching position atop a nearby handrail. The staff in his hand twirled several times, coming to a resting position under his arm.

Seeing an opening, the twins smirked at one another and clasped their hands together.

" _M_ _á_ _s y Menos, s_ _í_ _podemos_!"

With their signature battle cry still ringing through the air, they took to running a series of rapid circles around Warp. The man stumbled back as a wave of vertigo set in, but composed himself enough to fire a well-aimed blast directly in their chests. Fortunately, his power was low enough to merely stun them; they briefly lost consciousness, but showed no other outward signs of injury.

The sounds of electricity crackling above was the only warning Warp had as he instinctively dodged, feeling the residual currents crackle against the top of his helmet as he narrowly avoiding yet another of Static's attempts at a sneak-attack. Superboy followed up with four hits to Warp's lower torso before the villain was able to knock him away. He was getting weaker.

Wonder Girl saw the opening in his defense, and struck with the full force of her mystic strength. Her bracelets clanked harshly against the metal of his arm, and she planted her feet firmly on the ground for additional support. Together, the two wrestled back and forth before simultaneously pushing back. Warp was a fraction of a second faster than she, firing off a wave of shots before she could position herself to properly block them.

All but one missed, though the last bounced off the edge of her cuff and hit her in the side of the face. She let out a cry of pain as she was thrown to the ground, hand rising to the burn wound just above her right temple.

Smirking at his minor triumph, Warp allowed himself to be caught off-guard just long enough for Starfire to swoop in from above and plow right into his chest. The force knocked them both back several meters until she had him pinned against the wall. His helmet did little good to protect his skull from harm as it slammed against the plaster-coated surface, leaving a spiderweb-like series of cracks.

"You...you..." she began, glaring at him with charged eyes until realizing something. "You...have also grown older."

Sure enough, as she was able to get a proper look at his face, she saw lines and wrinkles that had not previously been there. His hair, too, had grown limp and grey with age. The mustache above his lip was frayed and unkempt. Age spots were peppered along his forehead and cheeks. Gone was the youth he had possessed during their first encounter, replaced by a man more than twice the years his senior.

"This is what happens when you mess with someone's time-space stabilizer." Warp sneered at her, hardly concerned by the firm grip she had on his collar. "And while fixable, none of this would have happened if you hadn't tried to interfere in the first place."

"Lies!" The heat swelled beneath her cornea as she lifted him further off the ground. "If you ever want to see your future again, you will repair the damage you have done to my past!"

Warp let out an unabashed roar of laughter. "Silly girl. I have done nothing to your past. You've done more damage by trying to stop me than I ever could have."

"That is  _enough_!" She threw him to one side, turning to aim her eye-beams.

But again, Warp was faster; he had a hand raised before he even hit ground, firing a blast directly into her chest. Starfire flew back several feet, crashing into a large concrete pillar. A hiss of pain escaped her lips at the contact before she fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. From there, she did not move.

"Starfire!" Nightwing cried out. His sight then turned to Warp, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You!"

"Hate me all you want," Warp replied back casually, allowing himself a moment to brush off the dust coating his armor. "But I speak the truth. I went back in time to steal the Clock of Eternity because history had already foretold of its disappearance. Even if I had not planned for such an unexpected inconvenience, it still does not change things."

Nightwing gave a low growl before dashing forward, moving at a speed far too great for Warp to keep up. In the blink of an eye, the tip of his bow-staff caught the aging man by the chin, throwing him onto his back. From there, Nightwing pinned him down with one foot, weapon hovering less than an inch from his throat.

"This ends now, Warp."

"In a way, it already has...Nightwing." Despite his predicament, Warp looked highly amused at the sudden turn of events. "I know of you well from the history books of my time, and the fact that you stand before me now only further proves my point."

"What are you rambling about?" Nightwing pushed down harder with his foot, hearing the metal groan from the pressure.

Warp gave a light wince, but remained otherwise unaffected. "It's quite simple, really. With or without her, you still became the dark, solitary figure that look over a city epitomizing the very meaning of the word desolate. I also know that, by nature, you lack the necessary will to act upon your little threat here." He smirked. "One insignificant child means little compared to the big picture. Your future is as certain as mine."

"You took away my future!" Nightwing screeched, raising his bo-staff to deliver the final blow.

The smile quickly faded from Warp's face, replaced by a look of horror as he realized what Nightwing truly intended to do. But...nothing in his records had ever told of the young man taking a life! It went against everything his mentor had ever taught him—everything he had ever believed in!

Frantically, Warp searched the darkened corners of his memory for any recollection of Nightwing's darker side. He recalled reading about the Joker episode, eventually leading to his departure from the Titans. How it was Superman who had first inspired the young man to take up the mantle of protector once more with tales of an old Kryptonian legend. How his marriage to longtime lover Kori Anders had been interrupted by a former teammate mere moments before the amorous pair could...

Wait.

_...marriage to longtime lover Kori Anders..._

_...also known by the superheroine name of_ _**Starfire** _ _!_

Warp's eyes widened as he finally began to realize just how important the Tameranean's existence in the timeline may had been after all...and for the first time, he feared for his own future. Or lack thereof.

"Nightwing, no!" Superboy was suddenly at the man's side, one hand firmly keeping the bo-staff at bay. His eyes were narrowed, but he managed to keep his voice low and calm. "That's enough."

At first, Nightwing said nothing. His breathing was coming in deep, audible gasps, chest heaving with every breath. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears, feel his whole body shaking with adrenaline. But then he looked down at the genuine fear in Warp's eyes—fear of  _him_ , and what he had been about to do—and was shocked back to reality. Staggering back, he let the staff drop harmlessly to the ground. His knees felt weak, and for a moment he thought he would vomit out of pure disgust.

"I...didn't mean..." he began, looking to Superboy helplessly.

The Boy of Steel nodded. "I know you didn't."

Closing his eyes, Nightwing took in a deep breath to steady himself, then turned to face the others.

He wasn't sure what was worse: the looks of disapproval on most of the Titans' faces, or the fact that none seemed surprised by his sudden display of rage. Wonder Girl, in particular, had her arms folded over her chest and was shaking her head. A glance to the left showed Robin and Cyborg staring back at him in pity. The twins looked almost frightened.

A sudden movement to his left told of Static's approach. The younger boy refused to meet his eye as he knelt down to wrap the fear-stricken Warp in a length of rope made from pure electromagnetic energy.

At last, Nightwing steeled himself and turned to where he had last seen Starfire fall. The girl was awake now, and apparently had been for some time. He visibly winced upon seeing the tears that flowed freely down her cheeks, eyes shimmering with those yet to shed. A deep knot swelled in the pit of his stomach when she recoiled back from his gaze.

"Starfire," he tried calling to her, voice pleading for her to understand. "I—"

But she turned away before he could finish, making a dash for the nearest exit. Away from everything. Away from him. It didn't matter that she had treated Warp with a near equivalent degree of harshness mere moments prior. She did not care that she had been tempted, herself, to strike out of pure anger. She was not the kind, gentle Robin held so dearly in her memories.

...and neither, it seemed, was Nightwing.


	5. Chapter 5

Confusion. Uncertainty. Fear.

Dark emotions swelled within her heart as she struggled with the reality of all she had come to see and witness that night. Her precious gift of flight was lost to her now, any lingering sense of joy she previously clung to faded away...or, at least, buried so deep that she wondered if she would ever feel happiness again.

Left with no other means of transport than her own two feet, she allowed them to carry her aimlessly through the vacant streets of Jump City. Often, she gravitated towards familiar landmarks: the place of pizza where she and her teammates would often celebrate post-battle success...the movie rental store...the mall of shopping. But their continued presence made things all the more painful, for they reinforced the knowledge that this was indeed the place she had once called home.

Jump had not changed.

Earth had not changed.

The realism hurt even worse than if she had found the city a desolate, frozen tundra. At least then she could perhaps justify why her own world seemed to be collapsing around her.

In the hours just shy of dawn, she found herself at the shoreline of the most familiar landmark of them all, Titans Tower, with little recollection of how she had gotten there. It was as if she had been subconsciously drawn to the island in refuge, like metal to a magnet. She stared up at the large building for what seemed like forever, never quite bringing herself to venture inside. In the end, she resigned to a seat atop one of the rocky formations near the water, staring absently at the shallow pools at her feet.

They had more than likely formed sometime during the receding tide, because a single, tiny fish was swimming repetitive circles in one of the puddles no more than a few inches deep. Hard earth surrounded it on all sides, leaving no way to return to its home waters. So close, yet still out of reach.

Starfire sighed to herself as she watched the aquatic creature with empathetic pity, pulling her legs to her chest.

"It is wrong," she murmured into the night, speaking of more than just the fish.

"What is?"

Startled by the unexpected response, she abruptly turned to see Rose standing only a few feet behind her. The younger girl was wrapped in her usual long, black cape, the light fabric billowing gently around her in the early morning breeze. Though the sun had yet to appear, her pale skin and hair practically glowed under the lingering beams of starlight.

"Greetings, Rose." Starfire forced a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess." But her legs wobbled beneath her as even the simple act of coming to sit at Starfire's side left her short of breath. "Still pretty drained after everything."

The girl looked completely exhausted, Starfire noted at once. Upon closer examination, the shadows beneath her uncovered eye were more prominent and her lid was heavy with sleep. As alert as she had initially seemed, her body still swayed back and forth in the struggle to remain conscious.

"Have you not slept?" Starfire asked in concern, turning to face her.

Rose tried to shake her head, but the motion left her dizzy. "Tried. It's just that everything's still so... _new_. I remember bits and pieces, but the last few months feel more like one long dream. The good and the bad."

"I can understand the feeling," Starfire admitted, looking down. "Truthfully, that is how I have felt regarding these last few days. Much has remained the same, and yet everything still feels..."

"Wrong?" Rose finished for her, earning a quiet nod in response. "Not surprising. A lot can happen in only four years."

"So I have witnessed."

The two girls lapsed into a period of silence, where only the gentle lapping of waves against the rocks below could be heard.

Several times, Starfire found her gaze drifting to Rose with a mixture of curiosity and concern. She had yet to see either a medical physician or doctor of the psyche, though the lasting scars of her ordeal were clearly evident. Physically or otherwise. Her face was marred with a perpetual look of paranoia, softened only by the degree of fatigue weighing down upon her, and though she could speak clearly and make eye-contact, both her tone and gaze still carried traces of a distorted sanity behind them.

She had seemed so at peace during her brief reunion with Tim earlier—perhaps the only anchor left in her life—but without his comforting presence by her side, she seemed utterly lost in the world.

Gulping audibly, Starfire steeled herself as she turned back to the girl. Her voice was hesitant, fearing a poor reaction. "May I...ask you a question?"

"You may, but I already know what you're gonna ask."

The casualness of Rose's reply eased her some, and she managed a weak smile. "I had nearly forgotten you posses such a magnificent power."

"Not a Vision," Rose corrected, staring out into the waves below. "Merely observation. I learned a long time along ago how to be acutely aware of everything around me so I wouldn't mix up the future with the past or present. It took me a long time to get used to knowing what would happen before it was supposed to."

"And how do you...manage?" Starfire wondered. "Knowing all that you do?"

"Honestly? I didn't. I hated myself, turned away from the world, and spent every waking moment wishing I'd never been born with Second Sight...or even born at all." Rose paused, glancing upward as the memories surfaced. "When my mother died, I thought I would be alone forever.. If it hadn't been for my father, I may very well have been."

Starfire winced at the mentioning of Slade, as well as the mental images that came long with it. She looked away, closing her eyes as she willed thoughts of the last twenty-four hours away from her mind's eye. They were still too painful.

"I knew, of course." Rose continued then, drawing Starfire's attention once more. "That's what you wanted to ask me before, isn't it? Whether or not I knew what Nightwing was going to do?" Rose nodded slowly, the beads of sweat upon her brow shimmering in the dim light. "I knew even before he did. Just after my...accident...I'd had a Vision. I don't remember much—flashes, mostly—but I do remember seeing them both fighting with everything they had. It was an even match; Nightwing was fueled by anger, but my father was ruthless. He kept taunting him, saying things about what he was going to do with me once I 'got used' to...to the..."

Her voice trailed off mid-sentence, and Starfire watched as the girl's body began to tremble. Suddenly, Rose curled herself into a tight ball, clutching the back of her head with a frightened whimper.

At a loss, and fearing another seizure, Starfire looked around helplessly for any sign of assistance. She tried to recall the procedures Tim had earlier rattled off, but the episode lasted only a few seconds before Rose calmed herself down. When she lifted her head, one hand lingered over her eyepatch; it was then Starfire realized the depths of emotional pain the younger girl was suffering from, burdened not only with the knowledge of what had been done to her, but of the person responsible.

"You do not have to continue," Starfire almost pleaded with her, moving to place a hand on her shoulder. "Please, let us venture inside so that you may rest."

But Rose stubbornly shrugged her hand away, picking up right where she had left off: "Nightwing...has always been protective of the precious people in his life, you see. And that extended to the precious people in theirs. He barely knew me as anything but a villain, but he knew how much Tim cared about me. For him, that was enough." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "I don't know who sought out the other, but it was clear that both of them wanted that fight."

"Do you not feel sorrow?" Starfire asked gently. "Slade was a horrible man, yes, but he was still your father. You even said you would have been alone were it not for him."

Rose shook her head. "Fathers are supposed to love and care for you. Regardless of morals, there are still villains out there who are able to do that much for their children." She turned her gaze to the silhouette of the city skyline. "It's true that he saved me from loneliness...but, in the end, he still tried to take away the only real love I've ever had in my life."

She did not regret it, Starfire realized. If there were ever a child who would have mourned the loss of Slade to the world, it would have been Rose. Yet, she seemed oddly at peace with Nightwing's deed.

Almost...thankful?

Starfire returned to the puddle at her feet and the little fish that swam in it. The waves from the sea water continued to lap at the outer edges of the surrounding rock, reaching a little closer each time. Calling to the fish. It would not be long before it would be able to return. Absently, Starfire wondered how much time had passed since the creature had last seen its home world, and if it still had friends and family waiting.

"Would you like to hear a story?" Rose abruptly asked, sounding more lively than she had just moments prior.

Starfire managed a smile. "It would seem I have done little else since my arrival aside from listening to the stories of others."

"Then one more wouldn't hurt." Rose grinned, shifting her weight to sit in a more comfortable position. Her long, slender legs peeked out from beneath her robe, dangling over the rock's edge. "This is the story of a young girl who spent most of her childhood trying to hide from the world because of a tremendous power she could just barely control. Power that made her feel like a freak, cursed, and the world around her did nothing to convince her otherwise. It shunned her, told her she was no good, until she eventually grew to believe them."

Starfire sat quietly, curious as to where Rose was going with this tale, and why she chose to tell it. Several emotions crossed the younger girl's face as she spoke: nostalgia...sadness...longing...

"Desperate for acceptance, the girl turned to a darker path. Began using her powers for criminal purposes. Thievery, mostly, with the occasional odd job thrown in. She never killed, but she hurt a lot of people. Her actions no longer mattered to her, however, only the attention that they brought. She was praised with the success of every mission, fearfully respected by her enemies, and had come to accept that she simply had to work a little harder than most for people to acknowledge her."

Traces of happiness mixed with regret.

"Time passed, and the girl eventually resigned herself to a life of misgivings because it was the only world she would ever belong in. She even convinced herself she was happy. Maybe she really was...after all, she had a place, a purpose, and was surrounded by people like her.

"But one day, during a routine heist, the girl met someone. A boy with a cocky grin and spandex. A hero." The corners of Rose's lips twitched. "He should've just dismissed her like the rest of them. She was committing a crime, after all, and he was only there to stop said crime. Instead, he did something that no one had ever done before."

"What?" Starfire couldn't help asking.

Rose looked down with a gentle smile. "He gave her a second chance. A second glance. Saw a worth that even she hadn't seen before. Genuinely believed that, beneath the front she put up for the world, she could do better." Taking a deep breath, she let out an amused chuckle. "He was an idiot."

The sudden insult caught Starfire off-guard, momentarily breaking the spell of the story. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, what superhero in his right mind would have walked up to an infamous criminal and started  _flirting_ , like nothing was out of the ordinary?" Rose shook her head before continuing. "Obviously, the girl tried to ignore him at first. How could she possibly believe that some guy she had just met thought more of her than the people who had known her for so much longer?

"But this boy was stubborn. Very stubborn. He brushed off insult after insult, always responding with a smile and words of encouragement. Never telling her what to do, just...saying what she needed to hear. And the more he talked, the more she listened.

"Against everything the world had ever taught her, the girl began to fall for him. Hard. The attraction was mutual; he never cared about her past, only wanted to be a part of her future." She paused again, allowing herself to relish in the moment, before turning to Starfire. "Wanna guess whose story this is?"

"Yours and Tim's, of course." Starfire answered, smiling knowingly.

To her surprise, Rose shook her head. "A lot of the similarities are almost uncanny, but no. The girl I was talking about is actually someone you have already met...though, in your timeline, her story hasn't happened yet. It will, soon, and I know for a fact that she and her hero have been together ever since."

Starfire cocked her head to the side in awe, wondering who this mysterious person could be. A female villain whom she had already met (aside from Rose, of course) and would eventually convert to the life of a heroine?

"When I first realized I was falling for Tim," Rose interrupted her musings before a single name could come to mind. "I was terrified. I was still working for my father as a criminal, and I was afraid of what would happen if he found out. It sounds silly, but everything with Tim was still so new and unfamiliar. I didn't want to risk loosing what I already had on the chance that he  _wouldn't_  eventually reject me."

"What made you change your mind?" There was something about what Rose was telling her that rang strangely familiar in her heart, despite the obvious differences in overall circumstances.

"Ultimately, Tim did." Rose smiled at the memory. "I was so close to breaking off things with him altogether. Then, one day, that same girl approached me. She'd heard about me and what was going on, and thought I could use some advice, Apparently, gossip is all the rage up there."

"Up where?"

Realizing her error, Rose waved a hand to dismiss the thought. "N-never mind. Anyhow, she told me how it was okay to feel scared, considering everything, but that I had to make a choice based on my happiness, and not based on fear. She convinced me to confront Tim about things once and for all, so I went looking for him that same night. Found him in one of our favorite meet-up places, as if he had been waiting for me." Her expression saddened. "He probably had been, now that I think about it. Seeing him again, after everything, I finally broke down and told him all my fears and worries. I thought he would feel insulted, leave me right there and then...but when I was finished, he just smiled and took my hand. Then he said something to me I'll never forget."

"What?"

" _'We like people for their qualities, but love them for their defects.'_ " Her eye glistened with unshed tears at the memory. "For all my faults, for all that I'd changed since the day we met, none of that ever mattered to him. People change every day. What we often fail to realize is that, no matter how much a person may change—for better or for worse—the things that make us love them will always remain."

Suddenly, Starfire understood what Rose had been trying to tell her.

She thought of everything she had experienced over the last few days. Every story she had heard. The lingering effects that Raven's departure still had on Beast Boy. Cyborg's trading in a life of crime-fighting for working under his father's watch in a state-of-the art laboratory. Both of them had certainly changed in the last four years, yet the qualities that made them Beast Boy and Cyborg were still there.

Even the new Titans had each gone through their own changes. Static's acquisition of powers so late in a metahuman's life, coupled with his premature involvement with the famous Justice League. Wonder Girl's adoption and upbringing by the feministic Amazonians, only to return to Man's world as one of its protectors. The twins' arrival in a foreign country at such a young age, adapting not only to the life of superheroes but to an entirely new language and culture. Superboy's constant struggles to rise from the shadows of not just the previous Titans' leader, but of the men from whom he shares his very DNA.

To say nothing of Tim and Rose's own personal hell.

Finally, she allowed herself the thought of Nightwing, who was no longer the Robin she remembered...and, for the first time, she began to wonder why exactly that was. What really made them all that different?

It wasn't the costume; she had expected him to outgrow his youthful attire one day. Maybe the colors (or lack thereof) were a little dark for her liking, but they suited his nocturnal nature well enough.

It wasn't the name; names were things that other people gave you. "Robin" was merely a title, one that had been passed down to a worthy successor.

Closing her eyes, Starfire recalled the moment she had Robin had stood off against one another as enemies. Slade had taken the remaining Titans hostage in exchange for his servitude, though they had not yet been privy to that piece of information. She thought of the look in his eyes as he had been forced to point a weapon at her, and the pain in her heart as she had been equally forced to aim a star-bolt at him...

*** * ***

*** * ***

" _Robin, you are my best friend." She had told him. "I cannot live in a world where we must fight. If you truly wish to destroy me, then go ahead..."_

_Her hand lowered, the heat evaporating into the air. She closed her eyes, head tilted downward in accepted defeat. She would no longer try to stop him._

" _...do what you must."_

*** * ***

* * * 

It wasn't his temper, or even the fact that he had killed. What had frightened her was the thought that her Robin had changed at all. That she might have lost the boy she once knew.

The boy she had first fallen in love with.

Her attention once more fell to the little pool. The tide had since come in, allowing the fish a chance to escape...yet it seemed perfectly content to swim in its newfound home, circling around another little fish that had joined it. A friend. It didn't seem to matter where they were, or the fact that they had been separated for so long. Just that they were together again.

She could not help the true smile tugging at her lips as she looked up, seeing Rose mirror her expression.

"One of the few great things about being able to see the future," Rose stated, reaching out to clasp Starfire's hands in hers. "Is the ability to learn from it."

A quiet beeping noise rang through the air just then. Rose pulled back enough to reach inside her cloak, emerging with what looked to be a spare communicator—probably meant to replace her original one. She flipped open the tiny compact to allow for video feed.

"Rose here."

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Though Starfire could not see the screen, she could almost imagine Tim frowning in concern. "You look exhausted."

"I'm fine, Tim. Just tired, like you said," Rose insisted.

"Well, we're heading back now. We've been searching all night, looking every place we could think of, but no luck. Haven't found a trace of her."

"I bet you haven't." Rose stated with a trace amount of humor, knowing at once whom he was referring to. "Because she's sitting right here, next to me."

There was a pregnant pause.

" _WHAT?_ "

Several voices came through the tiny speaker at once; Rose had to hold the device at arms length to save her poor ears from the abuse, wincing at the sheer volume.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Donna screeched. It was evident she was less than pleased by the sudden turn of events. "Didn't you hear the part where we've been searching  _all night_?"

From her seat just beyond the communicator's visual range, Starfire had the grace to look guilty. In truth, she had not stopped to think of how the others would react to her running off the way she had. Hearing that they spent hours roaming the city after her brought about a fresh wave of regret at her hasty actions.

There was a slight muffling sound, and then it was Nightwing speaking. "When did she get there? Is she...okay?"

"She's fine too." Rose told him, keeping her expression and voice neutral, before changing the subject. "Did you manage to get the time-travel device?"

Again, the sounds of the communicator being passed before Tim answered, "Yeah, we have it. Cyborg and Static are back at the lab trying to analyze it. Static even called up an old friend of his who might be able to help. Between the three of them, they should be able to get it working."

"That's great." Rose tried to sound enthusiastic, but the effect was ruined when she had to stiffen a yawn in the process.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

She managed a weary smile at the boy's concern. "Just...come back soon, okay?"

With that, Rose closed the lid and returned it to the confines of her robe.

Neither she nor Starfire chose to spoil the moment with words, instead turning back to the horizon before them. The first glimpses of sunrise were beginning to stretch across the city skyline, coloring the previously dark world with a prism of light.

*** * ***

The large digital clock on the wall blinked  **7:53 a.m.** When Richie Foley, also known by the handle Gear, took center stage in the middle of the Tower common area. A mechanical backpack stood by his feet, awaiting further orders. Cyborg sat close by, on one of the smaller couches, wiping at his human eye. In spite of the lingering weariness from yet another all-nighter, he too looked proud.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Richie brandish the large gem in his hands with a flourish. "We present to you the means by which Miss Starfire will be able to travel back to her original timeline!"

His announcement was met with half-lidded stares and the sound of Manuel's light snoring.

"Fabulous." Donna grumbled sarcastically from her seat atop the kitchen counter, still cranky over her [unnecessary] lack of sleep. "Just tell us the damn thing will work."

"It'll work." Richie nodded, abandoning all sense of showmanship. He'd heard stories from Virgil about Donna's temper, and was in no mood to find out first-hand how much truth there was behind them. "But there's a catch: the technology behind this device is way beyond any power source that exists at this point in time."

Suddenly, he had everyone's full attention.

Tim and Conner both sat up straight on the large couch, eyes widening. To their immediate left, Miguel was poking his brother awake, echoing the news in low, rapid Spanish. Even Nightwing looked suddenly alarmed, pushing away from the back wall he had been leaning against until then.

From her seat on the room's nearby steps, Starfire let out a gasp. "What does this mean? Will I not be able to use it?"

Next to her, Rose was frowning.

"Oh, no. You'll still be able to use it." Richie held up both hands defensively, fearing the wrath of several sleep-deprived Titans (past and present), then motioned to the boy to his right. "Virgil should be able to juice it up just long enough to get a portal open. But we'll only get one shot at this before the insufficient power source destroys the gem completely."

"Hey! Who're you calling an insufficient power source?" Virgil cried out, taking offense.

Everyone promptly ignored him.

"How long will she have?" Conner asked.

Cyborg took over, still reclining against the couch. "The portal should hold for a good fifteen seconds, if we've done our math right. More than enough time to get her through."

"Are you ready, Starfire?" Richie asked.

The girl in question hesitated, feeling all eyes suddenly on her, but nodded just the same. Slowly, she rose to a stand and began making her way towards Richie and Virgil. She took care not to meet any of the room's piercing gazes until she stood only a few feet from the center of the room.

When she finally lifted her head, she was met with the smiling faces of Manuel and Miguel. The boys had silently zipped to her side as a show of their support, and she could not resist kneeling down to give them each a warm hug.

"I do not believe I ever fully thanked you both for rescuing me upon my arrival," she told them. "Therefore, I wish to do so now."

"It was our pleasure, S _e_ _ñ_ _orita_ Starfire!" Manuel smiled.

Miguel nodded his agreement.

Donna was next, the gravity of the situation having assuaged her temper. Somewhat. She was not sky in walking right up to the girl, taking both hands in hers and placing an air kiss on Starfire's left cheek.

"You would have been warmly welcome in Themyscira," she stated, the highest compliment in her mind. "I hope we can meet again."

"I would like that very much." Starfire smiled as the Amazonian gave her hands a light squeeze in affection.

Stepping back, her eyes then briefly met with Conner's. The boy stood off to one side, giving her a casual salute in farewell. She mirrored his actions, understanding that overly-emotional goodbyes were perhaps not part of his character.

Equally casual was her parting with Cyborg, though they had only spent a few precious moments together during her time there.

"I'll be seeing you in a few, anyway," he reminded her. "So saying 'goodbye' now would almost be kinda silly, don'tcha think?"

"I suppose you are right." She managed a sad smile all the same, knowing fully well that, while it may not have been 'goodbye' for her, it certainly would be for him. "Then I shall merely settle for 'see you soon'."

"Back at ya', Shorty."

Tim chose that moment to step forward, placing something hard and cold in her hands. She looked down, eyes widening as she recognized the Clock of Eternity. With everything that had happened, she nearly forgot about it!

"Take this back with you," Tim told her, "As a reminder that the future  _can_  change."

There was something about his tone that worried her; sure enough, Tim's lips were pressed tightly together, and he looked like he was struggling internally with something. A second glance showed tears brimming at the corners of his eyes, beneath the mask.

"Starfire," he began, voice at nearly a whisper. "I know it's selfish of me to ask, but...please, when you return...find Rose. Warn her."

She let out an audible gasp, eyes flickering to the girl in question. Rose was still sitting on the same step as before, watching them both through a cloud of exhaustion. She seemed oblivious to what Tim was asking, and the potential consequence of such a request.

"But...you and she met in the act of opposing one another," Starfire reminded him, voice equally low so the others would not hear. "If Rose does not become your enemy, then there is a chance you may never meet."

"And  _he_ 'd never be able to hurt her." He replied back, voice cracking with emotion. "I just want her to be safe."

Her shoulders slumped as she felt the full weight of Tim's sacrifice. He was willing to risk never knowing the girl he had fallen in love with to keep her from her pain. Not knowing what else to do, she nodded.

"I promise."

"Thank you." He turned away, and Starfire watched with a heavy heart as he took a seat by Rose's side.

The girl sat up with a start, having nearly fallen asleep again, and turned to him with a weary smile. Then he spoke a few words to her at a volume only she could hear, and her smile instantly vanished. Her eye widened, and she alternated frantically between looking to Starfire and Tim before turning back to him, shaking her head furiously. Fearfully.

"No!" Starfire could hear her saying. "I can't...you... _no!_ "

Tim didn't once falter in his resolve, gently reaching up to cup her cheek in his gloved hand. As drained as she already was, Rose soon lost the will to protest further, resigning herself to bury her head in his shoulders. Tim wrapped his arms tightly around her as her body shook with quiet sobs, placing a kiss atop her head.

Starfire would have continued to watch the display had it not been for the sudden presence that made itself known to her then. She turned, seeing Nightwing stand less than two feet away. It was the first time he had approached her since the previous night.

"So..." he murmured awkwardly. "I guess this is goodbye."

She did not answer immediately, allowing her eyes to fall once more to the large, blue symbol on his chest. Not unlike when she had first seen it, her fingers acted of their own accord, lightly trailing over the large bird-like shape.

" _...no matter how much a person may change—for better or for worse—the things that make us love them will always remain."_

"Not goodbye." She looked up at him with a smile that was neither forced nor sad. "I have a feeling we will see one another again soon...Nightwing."

The young man inhaled sharply at the sound of his newly chosen name on her lips, realizing that it meant she had finally come to accept him. All of him. He reached out to clasp her hand in his, holding it tightly to his chest. Not caring who was watching, he leaned down to brush his lips against hers in a fleeting, spontaneous kiss.

"The way I felt about you never changed, Kori," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. "Not from the day we met. It just took me a while to realize that."

His underlying meaning not lost on her, she gazed up longingly at him for one last time before pulling away, closing her eyes and willing her heart to calm itself. The blood pounded in her ears as she struggled to steady her breathing. No longer trusting herself to speak after such an emotional moment, she turned back to Virgil and Ritchie in silence, nodding to indicate her readiness.

"Alrighty, then." Richie held out the pendant for Virgil to take. "Will you be so kind as to do the honors?"

Virgil mumbled something incoherent, still sore about the earlier 'insufficient' crack. His eyes were narrowed and he had his arms folded across his chest in protest.

Donna heaved a loud sigh at the childish display, then quickly crossed the room and smacked him upside the head.

"Yeowch!" Virgil exclaimed, sending the Princess a fierce glare as he rubbed the back of his throbbing skull. She met it with a Look of her own, and he was quick to back down. "Sheesh! Fine! I'm on it!"

Satisfied, Donna stepped back and allowed Virgil to grab the pendant from Richie's still outstretched hand.

He summoned a low wave of electricity, focusing the energy directly into the gem. Almost instantly, it began glowing an incandescent blue. A beam of light shot out directly in front of them, coming to a stop inches from where Starfire stood, where a portal appeared.

Starfire turned one last time to wave goodbye to her friends new and old. Her gaze lingered sadly for a moment on the embracing forms of Tim and Rose, the latter still openly sobbing in his arms, before coming to rest on Nightwing. Their eyes locked, and she refused to look away as she stepped backward into the portal.

Back to her own time.

 

 

" _One of the few great things about being able to see the future...is the ability to learn from it."_

 


	6. EPILOGUE

It was late, but Starfire could not sleep.

Just as she had every night since her time-travel adventure two weeks prior, she sat cross-legged on the edge of her bed in deep meditation. The shadows beneath her eyes had taken up permanent residency, lines on her face telling of both fatigue and anxiety. Her body longed for rest, to the point where nearly every inch ached, but her mind refused to still itself. Plaguing questions haunted her every thought, and she had no idea who to ask.

At first, she figured she could try contacting the Justice League and see if they could help. Hadn't Conner mentioned something about three of its most prominent members encountering something similar? But when she had asked Robin about it, he gave her an odd look and told her that no such team existed. Not yet, anyhow.

Fearful she had already said too much, Starfire retreated into a shell of isolation, subconsciously pulling herself further away from her teammates. She wracked her brain trying to figure out what to do next. What exactly were the rules of returning from the future? How much information was she allowed to share without the threat of causing irreparable damage to the time stream?

On some level, she knew her friends were worried about her. That they were sharing sidelong glances each time she entered a room. She knew of the 'secret' meeting Robin held two days after her return, when she was busy not-sleeping in her room, and knew she had been the sole topic. Her retelling of what had happened to her in those few precious seconds—from their standpoint, anyhow, whereas it had been days for her—had been so purposely vague, they had to have known she was keeping things from them.

During the initial debriefing, she told them how she had located and found Warp in a time approximately four years into the future, aided by a new generation of Titans. A strong, close team that she had been proud to work alongside, even if it had only been for a short while. When the battle ended, they had called in a trusted friend and ally with a superhuman comprehension of technology who had been able to get Warp's time-travel device working just long enough to send her back. The amulet would have been destroyed immediately following. Aside from that, she gave no further details, made no indications of having met any of their future selves, and named no names.

Except one.

For all her fears, she could not bring herself to break her promise to Tim; the following day, she gathered her friends together and begged them to locate what would be a now ten-year-old Rose. She knew almost nothing about her aside from physical characteristics and name, but insisted that it was imperative they reached her in time to prevent a most horrifying Fate at the hands of her own father.

The Teen Titans had agreed instantly and, after recovering from the shock of learning that Slade had a daughter, began setting up a network of contacts and resources in hopes of tracking her down. Even though the wounds of what the man had done to them were still fresh, they saw it as a chance to save another person from his ruthless clutches.

If she's out there, Robin promised, the Titans would find her.

But as the days turned into weeks, it was growing more and more likely that she  _wasn't_  out there. Cyborg's search engines and web systems offered little other than proof of Rose's birth, which they already knew about. None of Robin's Gotham contacts fared much better, nor Beast Boy's former associates, nor Raven's...whatever it was she did to locate the presence of others. It was as if the girl had vanished entirely. Starfire could only hope that it wasn't already too late.

Then there was the part of her that wondered if it would be better that they never found her at all. She had promised Tim, yes...but should she have? Was it right for her to mess with the time-stream just to save a single child? Or—and this is what she feared even more—would she be causing more harm to Rose than good? She didn't even want to think about what could possibly worse than what the girl had already gone through— _would_  go through.

A sudden knock at the door offered a welcome distraction from her turbulent brainstorming. Sitting up a little straighter, she cranked her head back enough to catch a glimpse of the time on her digital clock. The bold, red letters stood out brightly in the otherwise dark room, telling her that it was just after one in the morning.

"You may enter," she called out.

The door slid open with a mechanical hiss, and though the hallway was equally cast in shadows, Starfire's eyes were adjusted well enough to make out the familiar hooded figure that entered.

"Greetings, Raven." She forced a smile for her fellow female teammate. "Is there something I may assist you with at this late hour?"

Raven reached up to push back the hood of her cloak, allowing the door to shut behind her. "Actually, I was about to ask the same of you."

"What do you mean?" Though she already knew what the girl was talking about, Starfire tried acting oblivious.

Raven wasn't buying it. "I think you already know." She crossed the room with a great deal of ease for the lack of illumination, coming to take a seat on the bed. "By now, even Beast Boy is starting to notice that you're not yourself. You haven't been since the fight with Warp. It's been two weeks, Starfire. Everyone's worried about you."

The smile vanished instantly. Sighing, Starfire realized it was pointless to maintain a cheerful facade any longer. What the sorceress had not already garnered from pure observation, her telepathy would more than compensate for.

Her eyes lowered guiltily. "It is not that I do not wish to talk, but...that I do not know what I am at liberty to say."

"Afraid of telling us too much about the future?" Raven guessed.

A nod.

"I can see how you may be concerned about interfering with the time stream," Raven agreed, folding her arms across her chest. "But, technically, haven't you already done so by asking us to track down that one girl?"

Starfire winced, unable to argue. "I am beginning to wonder if I was in the right by doing so."

Raven shrugged. "Your intentions were noble," she assured, her voice unusually gentle. "If what happened to Rose in the future you met her was truly met to be, then there is little we can do to stand in the way of Fate. But," she continued, "if Fate purposely gave you a chance to intervene...to save a life that may not otherwise have been saved...then, in my opinion, I think you should take advantage of the opportunity."

"But—"  _I would be responsible for preventing her from meeting the most important person in that life_ , was what she wanted to say, but couldn't. Tim and Rose's relationship was another detail she had refrained from sharing with them.

She could still see them in her mind, the image permanently engraved into her memory. The way Tim would lovingly stroke Rose's hair every chance he could, just so he could brush his fingers down her cheek. The sorrowful, yet determined look he had given her when he pleaded for her help. The fear in Rose's eyes when she learned of what he had done, and how they had clung to one another so desperately.

Raven saw the inner turmoil raging in her friend's eyes and sighed, leaning back. "Have you ever heard of the Theory of Universal Wave-function?"

Looking up at the sound of Raven's voice, Starfire thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"It's an interpretation of quantum mechanics first formulated by a man named Hugh Everett...at least, by Earth's historic accounts." She did not bother to simplify her vocabulary, knowing fully well how knowledgeable Starfire was in the sciences; sure enough, the deceptively bright Tamaranean followed her every word without batting an eyelash. "The short version is that his Theory believes our universe timeline to be, rather than linear, composed of an infinite number of branches based on an infinite number of probabilities in either direction."

"And what does that mean, exactly?"

"Well, take for example the future you saw. According to the events of that timeline, you no longer existed because you had disappeared during our fight with Warp. Am I correct?"

"You are."

"Well, you've already proven that universe to be 'false' because you're sitting before me right now, alive and well." Raven made a slight gesture with her hand to emphasize Starfire's presence. "But if we were to believe the Theory, then that universe—the one you vanished in—still exists, only on a different plane. Our universe, meanwhile, will follow a parallel timeline in which you never disappeared for more than a few seconds. Likewise, there are countless more possible futures that will occur, whether in this universe or another, depending upon each and every choice we make here in the present."

Starfire's eyes widened. "So what you are saying is that the future I saw...is already no longer possible?"

"The moment you came back," Raven nodded, "Was the moment you steered our future down a separate path."

Starfire looked away, nearly breathless as the sudden revelation hit her with full force. She had not even considered the fact that her  _return_  would have affected the timeline in such a manner; if anything, Rose had had her believing the opposite would have been true!

"But," she murmured, though more to herself. "I had been informed that my presence in the future created a disturbance in the time-stream because it created a possible alternate future that should  _not_  have existed."

Curious as to what Starfire was murmuring about, Raven raised an eyebrow. "Who told you that? And, more interestingly, what would make them think such a thing?"

It was then Starfire realized her error, hands flying to her mouth to muffle an audible gasp. Rose's powers were yet another thing she had omitted from her already hold-filled testimony. She spared a sideways glance at Raven, hoping the girl had not noticed her reaction. But Raven was staring right back with a stern, unwavering look that told her she would not let this one slide.

Starfire's shoulders slumped in defeat, hands falling to her lap. The weight of keeping everything inside was beginning to take it's toll on her, physically and mentally.

"The girl I told you about. Rose." She finally explained, voice low and weary from stress. "She possessed a Second Sight that allowed her to witnesses events having yet to occur. Not long after my arrival, her Visions began to merge multiple images together, as if she were seeing more than one future occurring simultaneously."

Both Raven's eyebrows shot up. "She was seeing multiple futures?"

"Two, that I was aware of. One in which I remained in their world, and one in which I did not."

"That's...incredible!" Raven breathed, at a near lost for words. "Given her young age, I wonder if such a sudden growth in power could result from the drugs you said were introduced into her system?"

"Growth?" Starfire repeated, surprised. "You mean...her Visions were not a warning?"

"Not in the way she interpreted them, I don't believe so." A finger rose to the sorceress' lips in deep thought, looking genuinely astonished at the unexpected revelation. "If anything, they offer further proof of the existence of multiple universe timelines."

"Then—" Starfire sat up a little straighter as her chest swelled with hope. "Then it may still be possible for certain events to occur in the future, regardless of the change in circumstances?"

"Anything's possible when Free Will is taken into account," was Raven's initial answer. But her voice seemed to soften as she added, "I'd be lying, though, if I didn't admit to believing that there are some things in this world that are simply meant to be."

Starfire's lips pressed together in a thin line when she detected the traces of sadness in her friend's tone. She knew what Raven must have been thinking of at that moment: the consequences of her heritage, and the inevitability that the Seed within her would one day threaten to consume her.

In the time since their encounter with the Puppet King, the two girls had formed an unspoken bond of trust between them. Yet there was still so much that had yet to be shared, if only because the time for sharing had yet to present itself.

This would be another one of those things that would remain unspoken...for now.

But then Starfire thought back to the supposed Fate of her other teammates. The traveling Beast Boy, who had changed both physically and in name, searching for something he couldn't explain. Longing for someone he knew he wouldn't find. A Fate he had willingly accepted, if in self-sacrifice. Of Cyborg, whom had seemed content with leaving the crime-fighting business to work under his father. And then there was Nightwing...

" _Take this back with you...as a reminder that the future_ can _change."_

As surely as the Clock of Eternity was now sitting on its pedestal in the museum, Starfire's mind was made up.

"I...wish to tell you what happened. Will happen. Might." This time, she met Raven's gaze with an air of confidence. "All of you."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, smiling faintly. "It is as you said before. I would be a fool not to accept the chance to save a life that may otherwise not have been saved."

The girls' eyes met, and in a fleeting moment of understanding, Raven smirked. "Why do I have the feeling you're not just talking about Rose?" She shook her head, continuing before Starfire even had a chance to answer. "Never mind. I suppose I'll hear about it soon enough. Shall we wake the boys now, or wait until the morning?"

Starfire gaze returned to her clock. It was half past one. "I do wish to be given the chance to explain myself as soon as possible."

"I have no doubt that they'll be eager to hear it."

"As will you, Friend Raven." The corners of Starfire's lips twitched mischievously as she rose to make her way through towards the exit.

"Oh?" Raven asked, also standing.

"Oh, yes." Just as she was about to open the door, Starfire called back over her shoulder. She had to refrain from giggling. "I believe you, in particular, may find a certain tale regarding Beast Boy most...interesting."

Raven raised an eyebrow.

*** * ***

**Four Years Later...**

Kori Anders let out an uncharacteristically loud yawn as she exited the plane terminal, stretching her arms over her head until she heard the muscles pop. The flight had been fairly uneventful, if a bit on the boring side, but the several hours of immobility had taken their toll. Her emerald eyes were clouded with sleep as she lazily scanned through the hoards of people for several moments, searching for a familiar face.

A second wind came over her when she, at last, located him among the thick crowds. Smiling brightly, she waved him over, having to stiffen a yawn as he approached.

Dick smirked at her sleepy expression. "Long flight?"

"It was not a terrible experience," she waved her hand dismissively. "Though I fear I can not say the same about the food."

"That sounds about right." He chuckled lightly, guiding her towards the baggage claim area. The first wave of luggage was already coming through the shoot. "Next time, remember what Gar told you about ordering vegetarian meals in advance. They taste better and you even get served first."

"But I am not a vegetarian," she reminded him with a smile.

"They don't know that."

"Oh, you!" Holding back a bout of laughter, she covered it up by giving him a gentle swat on the arm. Of course, given her strength, the wince he gave was more than likely genuine.

Rubbing his arm over-dramatically, Dick was able to distract her long enough with his antics to keep her from noticing when both her large roller suitcase and equally large tote bag passed by on the conveyer belt. He grabbed them both on the first try, smirking victoriously when she shot him a glare.

"How many times must I tell you, you do not have to carry my things for me?" Her hands went to her hips in disapproval. "I could bench press several times the weight of those bags without breaking a sweat!"

"You know that. I know that." He called back over his shoulder, already heading for the airport exit. "Even Alfred knows that, and yet he'd still skin me alive if he ever found out I didn't—oh, how does he put it—'perform my gentlemanly duty'."

Kori rolled her eyes and tried to frown, but was thankful that Dick's back was to her so he could not see the failed attempt. It was just too difficult to stay mad knowing that Alfred was the one responsible. She liked Alfred; he was kind, wise, and one of the most generous human beings she had ever encountered. Even if his old-fashioned ways tended to borderline patronizing at times.

"How was Brazil?" Dick asked once she caught up with him.

She knew he was purposely trying to chance the subject, yet she smiled anyway. "It was lovely. I met up with Garfield in between photo shoots. We had lunch together."

"No kidding. He still determined to set foot on every continent before he turns nineteen?"

A slight giggle escaped her lips. "That he is. He and Raven send their regards, by the way."

The two shared a grin at the thought of the unexpected couple. It had been less than two years since Raven and Beast Boy left Jump City together, surprising nearly all who knew them. They never outright stated the reason why, though there were more than a few theories floating around the superhero gossip circle. Some of the more imaginative women had passed the word "elope" around the circle, while their male counterparts tended to prefer the word "kidnapping."

Starfire, of course, had a good idea as to the real reason behind their abrupt departure, but figured it was something for them to admit when they were ready.

Exiting through the main doors, Dick darted his head at the several vehicles passing through the pickup lane. A black limousine pulled in several moments later. Shortly after the engine cut, an elderly, grey-haired man stepped out of the driver's seat. He approached them with his head held proudly high, shoulders back, and a warm smile on his face.

"Miss Anders, always a pleasure." Alfred walked right up to her, taking a hand in his and placed a fatherly kiss on her knuckles. Kori smiled at the man's greeting, resisting the urge to envelop him in a tight hug. Alfred them turned to Dick, raising an approving eyebrow when he caught sight of the bags. "And young Master Dick! I am pleased to see you have been listening to my lectures on the aiding of a lovely young lady whenever possible."

"You see?" Dick turned to Kori with a sheepish grin. "Take it up with him." He made a show of 'struggling' to bring the roll-on and tote bag to the trunk, though his muscles showed no real signs of protest, but refrained from any less-than-wise cracks at their size. More than likely, the majority of items had been strictly business-related.

Alfred opened the door to the backseat, motioning an invite for Kori to step inside. She smiled her gratitude as she entered the limo. Once he secured the trunk, Dick joined her.

"On the subject of friends, by the way," he stated once the door had been shut. "I got a call from Tim earlier this morning."

"Is something the matter?" She asked, turning to him in concern.

He shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, he wanted to know if we had time later this evening to go meet the newest Titan."

"The...newest..." Kori's voice trailed off, gasping as realization dawned on her. "You mean—?"

"I think so."

Kori's hands flew to her mouth, and she had to turn away so that Dick would not see the tears threatening to floor her vision. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply in an attempt to calm herself.

While she had eventually shared everything about her time-travel experience with her (now former) teammates, they had all mutually agreed to never tell the younger generation. Hopefully, it would allow them all to live their lives and grow as Fate intended. So the senior members watched and waited as the years passed, and sure enough, each new Titan came into their lives in manners similar to the stories Starfire remembered...with one noticeable exception.

Kori didn't realize she was trembling until Dick placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"But...how?" she asked, somehow keeping her voice steady. "We wore out every resource try trying to find her, with nothing to show for it."

"You can ask her yourself, if you like." Dick told her. "If you're up for visiting, that is."

Not trusting her voice just then, she merely closed her eyes and nodded. Dick responded in kind by taking her hand in his, placing a loving kiss along her temple, and pulled her head to rest on his shoulder.

*** * ***

Starfire and Nightwing, each dressed in their respective crime-fighting costumes, stepped into the main common are of Titans Tower. A wave of nostalgia swept over them as they glanced around the room, taking in the sight of Miguel and Manuel, the tiny twins known as  _M_ _á_ _s y Menos,_ quarreling over video games. To one side, the trio of Donna (Wonder Girl), Conner (Superboy), and Tim (Robin) looked to be having a discussion.

Or, rather, Donna was having a discussion while the boys were listening.

" _Se_ _ñ_ _orita_  Kori!" Manuel was the first to notice their sudden appearance in the room, dropping his Gamestation controller mid-race. He zipped to Starfire's side, a lovely long-stemmed rose in one hand and hearts in his eyes. "It is a delight to see you again. You look lovely as ever."

"Yes, yes!" Miguel joined his twin, also holding out a rose. "How have you been?"

Starfire giggled, graciously accepting both flowers from the flirtatious pair. She paused to take in the subtle, sweet aroma while pretending that Dick hadn't grown tense with jealousy beside her. Quietly slipping her hand in his, she gave his fingers a light squeeze; to her relief, Dick relaxed at the touch.

"Thank you, boys." She told them.

"Star!" Donna cried out from her seat atop the back of the main couch. She waved the both of them over. "Thank goodness you're here. You too, Dick. Maybe you could talk some sense into Tim."

"Why? What'd he do this time?" Nightwing somehow managed to keep a straight face as he asked. It seemed like everytime he visited, Donna had something or other to complain about one of the boys. Tim and Conner were her two favorite targets.

The resident 'Princess' rolled her eyes. "It's barely been three days, and I'm about to go into a diabetic coma if Romeo over here doesn't tone it down a notch." She gave a sharp head jerk in Tim's direction. "Will you please enlighten him on the proper way to control his overly-excited hormones?"

"Donna!" Tim exclaimed, voice squeaking in embarrassment. His face was turning an interesting shade of red.

"It's true. Right, Kon?"

"I am  _so_  not a part of this argument." Conner held his arms up in defense, backing away.

Starfire managed to just barely contain her laughter. "I take it this has something to do with the new team member?"

"You got it." Donna rolled her eyes again. "At first, I was thrilled we were finally getting another girl on the team—boys only have so much use, you know—but now, I'm seriously starting to reconsider."

Nightwing shook his head with a smile, knowing she was joking. Mostly. "Where is she now?"

As if on cue, the back room doors slid open. Virgil, dressed in his full Static gear, entered having what looked to be an amusing conversation with a girl slightly younger than he. She wore a long, black cape that shielded most of her body from view, but the delicate features of her face, framed in soft waves of shockingly white hair that fell past her shoulders, were more than enough to warrant a second glance. When she turned to greet the room's inhabitants, her eyes sparkled a brilliant shade of green.

Both of them.

"Hey, Rose!" Donna was the first to speak, as usual. "Come over here and meet Nightwing and Starfire. They're two of the original Teen Titans."

Rose appeared to glide across the room, pausing just long enough to send Tim a shy smile. The boy's face took on a new hue, and Donna snickers could not be contained.

Starfire's breath caught in her throat as she watched the scene, hardly believing what she was seeing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nightwing," Rose greeted the older boy as she approached, the softness of her voice making her sound younger than her fourteen years while her eyes had the opposite effect. She then turned to Starfire. "Hello, Kori. It's good to see you again."

" _Again_?" Nightwing echoed, mirroring everyone's surprise, if for a different reason.

Starfire was visibly taken aback, jaw dropping at the strangely familiar tone Rose carried in her voice. As if they really had met at a time and place in their respective pasts. But...that was impossible!

Wasn't it?

Then Starfire took another look. Her eyes met with Rose's, and in that moment, she saw something completely unexpected. Knowledge. Recollection. A growing suspicion stirred deep within. Wanting to confirm it, Starfire darted her gaze over to the still-flustered Tim, then back to Rose in silent question

Understanding at once, Rose gave a shy smile and light nod of the head.

"No matter how much a person may change..." she began.

"...for better or worse..." Starfire added.

"...the things that make us love them will always remain the same." Rose finished.

Inhaling sharply, Starfire was no longer to contain her excitement. She smiled brightly, enveloping the younger girl in a tight, warm hug. Rose returned the gesture with equal enthusiasm, hardly wincing at the Tameranean's superhuman strength. When they parted, she took Starfire's hands in hers.

"I do not understand," Starfire stated, still in partial shock. "How?"

"Four years ago, I had a massive Vision," Rose explained. "Stronger than any I've ever had before or since. I Saw everything." A sudden flush rose to her cheeks as she recalled some of the more intimate details. "I...knew you would try to look for me, and why. So I left, choosing to lay low until the time was right."

"And...er..." Starfire not-so-subtly pried, jerking her head towards a particular member of their (still speechless) audience.

Rose shook her head. "No, he doesn't know. I haven't told any of them." Her head lowered as she gave a slight giggle to cover her embarrassment. "We'll see, I...suppose."

"Okay, I'm officially confused now." Conner spoke up, scratching the back of his head. His sight darted between the two girls, trying to follow their conversation. "What are you two talking about? Have you two met before, Starfire?"

Starfire shared a knowing glance with Rose before turning, wearing a thinly-veiled smile of innocence.

"Yes." Starfire answered simply. "We've met."


End file.
